Approximately 1 million
patients present to hospital each year in the UK with a head injury, 90% of
whom have a ‘mild’ or ‘minor’ head injury, whilst 5% have a ‘moderate’ and 5%
have a ‘severe’ head injury. (Kay and Teasdale 2001).
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence, however, note that this may be an under-estimate, and that 700,000 patients attend accident and emergency departments in England and Wales each year with a head injury, and that in England in 2000/2001 there were 112,978 hospital admissions for head injury, of whom 72% were male, and 30% were children under 15 years of age. (NICE 2003).
Death from head injury in the UK has an incidence of 6-10 per 100,000 population each year, equivalent to 0.2% of patients attending accident and emergency departments for their injury. The majority of these fatalities are associated with ‘moderate’ (Glasgow Coma 9-12) or ‘severe’ (GCS </= 8) head injuries. (NICE 2003).
Adelson (1974) notes that head injuries are of particular importance in forensic medicine because:
- the head is often targetted in assaults
- the head can easily be injured when a person is knocked or pushed to the ground, and
- the brain and its coverings are more vulnerable to a degree of trauma that would rarely be lethal if applied to other areas of the body.
references
Kay A and Teasdale G (2001), 'Head injury in the United Kingdom', World Journal of Surgery 25:1210-1220
National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2003), 'Head injury: triage, assessment, investigation and early management of head injury in infants, children and adults', http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG4/guidance/pdf/English
Adelson L (1974), 'The pathology of homicide', Charles C Thomas, Springfield USA (http://www.ccthomas.com/details.cfm?P_ISBN13=9780398030001)
links
head injury (wikipedia)
the forensic neuropathology autopsy (sample book chapter)
