Depressed Skull Fracture

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Depressed Skull Fracture

A depressed skull fracture is a break in a cranial bone (or "crushed" portion of skull) with depression of the bone in toward the brain. The brain can be affected directly by damage to the nervous system tissue and bleeding. The brain can also be affected indirectly by blood clots that form under the skull and then compress the underlying brain tissue (subdural or epidural hematoma).

Proposed Criteria to elevate depressed skull fractures

1. >8-10 mm depression or >thickness of skull

2. deficit related to underlying brain

3. CSF leak

4. open depressed fracture(i.e. A compound fracture involves a break in, or loss of skin and splintering of the bone)

5. no evidence that elevating depressed skull fracture will reduce the incidence of posttraumatic seizures.

Reference:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000060.htm

Handbook of Neurosurgery fifth edition Mark S. Greenberg 24.4 p 655