Pediatric Head Injuries in a Neurosurgery Center of Nepal: An Epidemiological Perspective

Bal Gopal Karmacharya^1, and Bidur Acharya¹

¹Neurosurgery Unit, Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal

Cite this paper

Bal Gopal Karmacharya and Bidur Acharya. Pediatric Head Injuries in a Neurosurgery Center of Nepal: An Epidemiological Perspective. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2015; 3(4A):76-79. doi: 10.12691/AJPHR-3-4A-16

Abstract

Children aged 0-14 years constitute about 34.6% of the Nepalese population. Head injuries remain a significant factor among trauma related deaths. To carry out preventive measures for traumatic brain injuries we need epidemiological evidences so that preventive measures can be taken. The aim of this study was to explore the causes and outcome of traumatic brain injuries in children. This study was a descriptive study of all children who presented with head injuries to the Neurosurgery Unit of Manipal teaching Hospital in Pokhara. We studied demographic variables, causes of head injury, severity of head injuries, presenting features, operative procedures carried out and outcome of head injuries. Two hundred and eighty seven pediatric head injury patients aged 0 to 15 years were admitted from January 2013 to June 2014. The results indicated that fall from height accounted for 67.94% of head injury, majority of falls being from the windows and roofs. Mild head injuries were most common. Although majority of patients had a good recovery, mortality among severe, moderate and mild head injury was 44.44%, 3.33% and 0.91% respectively. Preventive measures should be taken to reduce these head injuries.

Keywords

Head Injury, Glasgow Coma Scale, Preventive Measures

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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