TEMPORAL BONE-FRACTURES IN CHILDREN - A REVIEW OF 34 CASES

Head injuries are commonly seen in accident and emergency (A&E) depart ments and within this group a small proportion will have a temporal bo ne fracture. Thirty-four such cases were identified from a 7-year peri od and their case notes were reviewed. The mechanisms of injury includ ed:falls outdoors (15 cases), falls in the home (eight cases), road tr affic accidents (RTAs; seven cases), missiles (three cases) and non-ac cidental injury (one case). In 20 cases the fracture involved more tha n one cranial bone, and the implications of this with regard to non-ac cidental injury are discussed. CT scans were carried out in 14 cases a nd 11 of these showed intracranial haematoma. The criteria for CT scan following head injury in general, and temporal bone fracture in parti cular are discussed. Outcome measures indicated that those injured as a result of RTAs had the poorest outcome, followed by those who fell o utdoors and then those who fell in the home.