Head injuries most commonly occur in individuals aged 15-24 from vehicular accidents or falls in those over 75. The brain is surrounded by meninges including the dura, arachnoid and pia mater. Increased intracranial pressure can decrease cerebral perfusion and cause neurological deterioration, so monitoring and medical or surgical interventions aim to reduce pressure and maintain blood flow to the brain.

1. Head Injury Niamh Bambury Lecturer in Surgery 18/09/08

11. Blood supply

15. Monroe-Kellie doctrine CSF Brain Blood Compensation occurs up to a value of 100mls. eg. an increase in lesion volume (e.g. extradural hematoma) will be compensated by the downward displacement of CSF and venous blood.

24. Glasgow coma scale

31. Extradural haematoma Respects the suture lines. Seen on CT Brain as lens- shaped blood collection with a convex medial border .

33. Acute Subdural haematoma Appear on Ct Brain as crescent-shaped blood collections with a concave medial border. This does not resect the suture lines. Note also midline shift.