Brain Trauma

Abstract

The sizable increase in street traffic in the recent past has been accompanied by a surge in the number of head injuries reported from traffic accidents. For example, in West Germany 150,000 to 200,000 body injuries are sustained yearly in traffic accidents. From this number approximately 50,000 can be considered serious head injuries; about 10,000 of these are associated with hematoma. In the United States, over 100,000 deaths each year may be directly attributed to head injury. More than 2.5 million such injuries necessitate some form of medical attention. Complications arising from head injuries, e. g., epidural and subdural hematomas with increased intracranial pressure on the affected side, demand immediate recognition. The sonoencephalogram has proven to be a valuable aid in the diagnosis of such lesions.