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Head Trauma
What is it?
Head trauma includes any trauma that leads to injury of the scalp, skull, or brain. Head trauma includes contusions (bruise on the brain), skull fractures, concussions, and other head and brain injuries. Head injuries can be either closed (such as injuries from a hard blow or fall) or open (where an object breaks the skull and enters the brain, such as a bullet or the windshield of a car during a car accident.)
Because the skull does such a good job of protecting the brain, most cases of head trauma are minor but each year, more than half a million head injuries are serious enough to require hospitalization. In some cases, a head injury is accompanied by spinal trauma.
Parents can help lower the risk of head trauma by supervising children during play and ensuring the use of safety equipment, such as seat belts, car seats, and sports helmets.
What are the symptoms?
The signs of trauma to the head can appear immediately or over the course of several hours after the event. Symptoms of head trauma may include:
- Pain on the part of the head that’s injured
- Swelling
- Obvious deformity in the injured area
- Warmth, bruising, or redness in the injured area
- Changes in personality, emotions, or mental abilities
- Irritability or unusual behavior
- A stiff neck
- Nausea or vomiting
- Changes in the pupil (black center of the eye)
- Speech problems
- Loss of hearing, vision, taste, or smell
- Drainage of clear or bloody fluid from the nose, mouth, or ears
- A drop in the rate of breathing or blood pressure
- Seizures
- Paralysis
- Coma
How is it treated?
Any child who has lost consciousness after a blow to the head should be seen by a doctor. Call 911 immediately. Surgery may be required to repair the skull, stop bleeding, remove foreign objects, or for other reasons. Many patients with moderate or severe head trauma are taken directly from the emergency room to the operating room. In some cases, the best course of action is to wait as long as several days, depending on how your child’s body is reacting to the injury. Follow-up surgeries may be necessary.
About surgery for head trauma at Children’s
The neurosurgery team at Children’s provides next-generation care to neonatal infants, newborns, children, and adolescents from throughout the Upper Midwest. The team provides some of the most cutting-edge treatments available, including newborn surgery, surgery utilizing intra-operative MRI, and grid placement surgery for epilepsy. Neurosurgery is performed at Children’s - Minneapolis and Children’s - St. Paul.
If you are a family member looking for a Children’s specialist in neurosurgery, visit Find a Doctor.
If you are a health professional looking for a consultation or referral information, please call Children's Physician Access at 1-866-755-2121 (toll-free).
Return to Children’s neurosurgery home page.
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