OBJECTIVE: To analyze variables of patients with bomb blast head injuries in a tertiary care civilian hospital of Khyber pukhtoon khwa.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: This observational study was conducted at the department of Neurosurgery, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar (Pakistan), from January 2009 to December 2010 (2 years). We included all the patients with bomb blast head injuries who were hospitalized, irrespective of their age and gender, and excluded those patients who died before hospitalization.
RESULTS: In a total of 2052 bomb blast victim treated in Lady Reading Hospital, 154 patients had head trauma. One thirty one (85.1%) patients were male with the age range from 2 months to 70 years. Common age affected was 2nd (24%) and 3rd (29%) decades of life. Around 14 % of the patients had severe head injuries. Frontal 31.17% (48) and temporal lobes (24.67%) of the brain were commonly affected. Mortality rate in our study was 11.7%. The common complications in our patients were neurodeficit (52), wound infection (13.6%), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak (9.1%), epilepsy (9 cases) and post traumatic hydrocephalous (5 patients).
CONCLUSION: We conclude from this study that significant number of hospitalized patients exposed to explosion have head injuries. Young men, with frontal or temporal regions, were affected commonly. Mortality rate is 11.7% in those head injured patients who reach to hospital. The common complications in those who survive are neurodeficit and wound infections.
Key words: Bomb blast injuries, warfare injuries, Traumatic brain injury, penetrating brain injuries.
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