Surgical management of depressed cranial fractures. Review uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • INDICATIONS: Patients with open (compound) cranial fractures depressed greater than the thickness of the cranium should undergo operative intervention to prevent infection. Patients with open (compound) depressed cranial fractures may be treated nonoperatively if there is no clinical or radiographic evidence of dural penetration, significant intracranial hematoma, depression greater than 1 cm, frontal sinus involvement, gross cosmetic deformity, wound infection, pneumocephalus, or gross wound contamination. Nonoperative management of closed (simple) depressed cranial fractures is a treatment option. TIMING: Early operation is recommended to reduce the incidence of infection. 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.

publication date

  • March 1, 2006

Research

keywords

  • Neurosurgical Procedures
  • Skull Fractures

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 33747151651

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1227/01.NEU.0000210367.14043.0E

PubMed ID

  • 16540744

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 58

issue

  • 3 Suppl