Computed tomographic findings in elderly patients with head trauma in a southern Nigerian tertiary hospital

Abstract

Background: Computed tomography (CT) is the imaging modality of choice in the triage of acutely head injured patients with the main objective being to detect clinically important traumatic brain injury where emergent intervention is required
Aim: To describe the computed tomographic findings in elderly patients with head trauma who presented at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria.
Materials and Methods: It is a retrospective review of patients aged 65 years and above with suspected intracranial injury (ICI) following head trauma, who presented for computed tomography (CT) scan at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria from January 2010 to December 2013. SPSS version 20 software was used for data analysis.
Results: The CT films and reports of 128 patients were reviewed. There were 76 (59.4%) males and 52 (40.6%) females. The mean age (SD) was 72.9 (7.0) years. The most common mode of injury was road traffic accidents in more than half (54.7%) of the patients. Majority of the patients had abnormalities which were considered post-traumatic in 60.9%. Intracranial bleeding detected in 64 (50.0%) patients was the most common intracranial abnormality and of these the subdural variety occurred in 26 (40.6%) patients.
Conclusion: Computed tomography is a useful tool in the management of elderly patients with head trauma in the acute setting.

Keywords: Computed tomography, head trauma, haemorrhage, subdural