What are the symptoms of a depressed skull fracture?
Signs of open or depressed skull fracture or penetrating head injury are:
- Clear fluid running from the ears or nose.
- Black eye with no associated damage around the eyes.
- Bleeding from one or both ears and/or bruising behind one or both ears.
- Penetrating injury signs.
- Visible trauma to the scalp or skull.
How long does it take for a depressed skull fracture to heal?
Skull fractures can take three to six months to heal completely. They usually heal faster in younger children. Have your child avoid rough sports until the doctor tells you it is OK to begin again. Your child may need a follow-up CT scan to make sure the skull fracture is healing properly.
How is a depressed skull fracture treated?
A skull fracture is a break in the bone of the skull. For most skull fractures, treatment consists of close observation in the hospital and medication to relieve pain during the healing process. However, some skull fractures require surgery.
What causes a depressed skull fracture?
Depressed skull fractures, as shown in the image below, result from a high-energy direct blow to a small surface area of the skull with a blunt object such as a baseball bat. Comminution of fragments starts from the point of maximum impact and spreads centrifugally.
What happens if a skull fracture goes untreated?
A skull fracture is a head injury where there is a break in the skull bone. While mild breaks can cause few problems and heal over time, severe breaks can lead to complications including bleeding, brain damage, leaking of cerebrospinal fluid, infection and seizures.
How do you treat a depressed skull fracture?
Methods: Elevation and debridement is recommended as the surgical method of choice. Primary bone fragment replacement is a surgical option in the absence of wound infection at the time of surgery. All management strategies for open (compound) depressed fractures should include antibiotics.
What causes a depressed fracture?
Can a skull fracture go unnoticed?
A skull fracture may go entirely unnoticed to a carer or even to a doctor if there are no clinical signs. A skull fracture can only be seen on an x-ray and so if there is no reason to x-ray (no swelling/bruising) it may not be found.
How do you treat a depressed skull fracture in a child?
Management of simple depressed skull fractures in children Surgical elevation is the treatment usually recommended for a simple depressed skull fracture if the depression is more than the full thickness of the adjacent skull, but there is no clinical evidence to support this management.
What is a depressed skull fracture?
Introduction: A depressed skull fracture is an inward buckling of the skull bones. It is referred to as a ping-pong ball fracture in neonates; in older children, some fractures take a cup shape mimicking ‘ping-pong’ ball fractures.
What is the prevalence of depressed skull fracture in neonates?
The finding of a depressed skull fracture in a neonate is a rare occurrence estimated at between 4 and 10 in every 100 000 live births in western countries. These can be grouped into spontaneous occurrences or more commonly those associated with instrumental deliveries.
What are the complications of a skull fracture in a child?
The main complications associated with a pediatric skull fracture include: Seizures Venous sinus thrombosis Intracerebral bleed Meningitis (if there is an open fracture) Growing skull fracture Consultations Neurosurgery Trauma surgery Neurointensivist Pearls and Other Issues