Berney

Paediatric Head Trauma: Influence of Age and Sex

Citation:

Berney J, Froidevaux AC, Favier J: Paediatric head trauma: influence of age and sex. Child’s Nervous System 10:517-523, 1994.

Notes:

"Babies and toddlers were shown to sustain rather low-energy trauma and suffer more skull fractures, more subdural haematomas and more benign injuries."
Early seizures were much more frequent in babies than in older children.
The youngest children (0-3 years) had the highest predisposition to subdural hematomas.
A "lucid interval" occurred almost equally often in each age group and for each grade of energy. It was five times more frequent in the presence than in the absence of a fracture.
2/3 of patients with extradural hematoma had a clear free interval, 1/4 of patients with subdural hematoma.
The brain in childhood has a high predisposition to swell.
Secondary deterioration can be due to seizures or even migraine.