ABSTRACT
Craniocerebral war injury, mainly caused by weaponry equipment and wartime conditions during warfare, are characterized by high difficulty in treatment and evacuation as well as high mortality rate. The field surgical treatment of craniocerebral war injury is not only related to injury characteristics, but also to factors such as war scale, combat style, combat area and weapon power. In recent years, there have been few comprehensive reports on the characteristics and field surgical treatment of craniocerebral war injury in China. Therefore, the authors reviewed the research progress in the characteristics and field surgical treatment of craniocerebral war injuries in foreign armies since 2001, with the aim to provide a reference for relevant basic researches and war injury treatment in China.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE@#Low-velocity penetrating brain injury (LVPBI) caused by foreign bodies can pose life-threatening emergencies. Their complexity and lack of validated classification data have prevented standardization of clinical management. We aimed to compare the trans-base and trans-vault phenotypes of LVPBI to help provide guidance for clinical decision-making of such injury type.@*METHODS@#A retrospective study on LVPBI patients managed at our institution from November 2013 to March 2020 was conducted. We included LVPBI patients admitted for the first time for surgery, and excluded those with multiple injuries, gunshot wounds, pregnancy, severe blunt head trauma, etc. Patients were categorized into trans-base and trans-vault LVPBI groups based on the penetration pathway. Discharged patients were followed up by outpatient visit or telephone. The data were entered into the Electronic Medical Record system by clinicians, and subsequently derived by researchers. The demography and injury characteristics, treatment protocols, complications, and outcomes were analyzed and compared between the two groups. A t-test was used for analysis of normally distributed data, and a Mann-Whitney U test for non-parametric data. A generalized linear model was further established to determine whether the factors length of stay and performance scale score were influenced by each factor.@*RESULTS@#A total of 27 LVPBI patients were included in this analysis, comprised of 13 (48.1%) trans-base cases and 14 (51.9%) trans-vault cases. Statistical analyses suggested that trans-base LVPBI was correlated with deeper wounds; while the trans-vault phenotype was correlated with injury by metal foreign bodies. There was no difference in Glasgow Coma Scale score and the risk of intracranial hemorrhage between the two groups. Surgical approaches in the trans-base LVPBI group included subfrontal (n = 5, 38.5%), subtemporal (n = 5, 38.5%), lateral fissure (n = 2, 15.4%), and distal lateral (n = 1, 7.7%). All patients in the trans-vault group underwent a brain convex approach using the foreign body as reference (n = 14, 100%). Moreover, the two groups differed in application prerequisites for intracranial pressure monitoring and vessel-related treatment. Trans-base LVPBI was associated with higher rates of cranial nerve and major vessel injuries; in contrast, trans-vault LVPBI was associated with lower functional outcome scores.@*CONCLUSION@#Our findings suggest that trans-base and trans-vault LVPBIs differ in terms of characteristics, treatment, and outcomes. Further understanding of these differences may help guide clinical decisions and contribute to a better management of LVPBIs.
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Fundamento: Las lesiones penetrantes cerebrales causadas por objetos extraños, incluidos proyectiles son comúnmente vistas en situaciones de guerra. Las lesiones no causadas por proyectiles son raras en la práctica neuroquirúrgica en la vida civil en tiempo de paz. Objetivo: Ilustrar formas clínicas y la evaluación de lesiones penetrantes del cerebro no causadas por municiones de armas de fuego en tiempo de paz, a través de la presentación de tres casos. Presentación de casos: Presentamos tres pacientes con cuerpos extraños intracraneales, el primero que durante intento suicida se introdujo a través de agujero de trépano objeto metálico (alambre de cobre); el segundo caso, paciente que al sufrir trauma de cráneo se le realizó tomografía axial computarizada de cráneo y se detectó la presencia de hematoma subdural agudo y cuerpo extraño intracraneal (pedazo de alambre); el tercer caso se trata de recluso que durante una riña sufrió herida con penetración de un cuerpo extraño intracraneal (clavo). Conclusiones: La intervención quirúrgica de estos pacientes de manera urgente y su estado neurológico al entrar al quirófano repercutió de manera decisiva en su evolución.
Background: Penetrating brain injuries due to foreign objects including gunshot wounds are commonly seen in war times. Injuries not caused by gunshot are rare in neurosurgical practice in civil lifetime in peace times. Objective: To illustrate the clinical forms and the evaluation of penetrating brain injuries not caused by ammunitions of firearms in peacetime, through the presentation of three cases. Cases presentation: We report three patients with intracranial foreign bodies, the first during suicide attempt was introduced via burr hole metal object (copper wire); the second case, the patient suffered head injury and underwent computed tomography of the skull and the presence of acute subdural hematoma and intracranial foreign body (piece of wire) was detected; the third case involves prisoner who suffered injury during a fight with intracranial penetration of a foreign body (nail). Conclusions: Urgently surgical intervention in these patients and their neurological status entering the operating room impacted decisively in their evolution.
Subject(s)
Humans , Head Injuries, Penetrating/surgery , Foreign Bodies/surgeryABSTRACT
Cranial stabbing injuries penetrating the brain are not commonly encountered. The cases in which the knife is retained constitute a challenge to the neurosurgeon. When a long-term permanence occurs, the reaction to the presence of the foreign body causes adherence to the nervous tissue and a higher risk is expected from the removal. The procedure should be performed with meticulous dissection and minimal oscillation of the blade thus avoiding damage to the adjacent structures. We report a case of a man who remained three years with a knife blade deeply lodged in the brain. After obtaining informed consent, the blade was removed; there were no postoperative complications. To our knowledge, this is the first case in which, after years of permanence, a knife blade was removed from the brain through a craniotomy.
Lesões cranianas por arma branca com penetração do encéfalo não são comuns. Os casos em que a faca encontra-se retida constituem um desafio para o neurocirurgião. Quando ocorre uma longa permanência, a reação à presença do corpo estranho causa aderência ao tecido nervoso e um maior risco é previsto para a remoção. O procedimento deve ser realizado com dissecção meticulosa e mínima oscilação da lâmina, evitando, assim, lesão das estruturas adjacentes. Apresentamos o caso de um indivíduo que permaneceu três anos com a lâmina de uma faca alojada profundamente no encéfalo. Após obtermos consentimento informado, a lâmina foi removida; não houve complicações pós-operatórias. Até onde sabemos, este é o primeiro caso em que, após anos de permanência, a lâmina de uma faca foi removida do encéfalo por meio de uma craniotomia.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Adult , Skull/injuries , Wounds, Stab/complications , Brain/surgery , Craniocerebral Trauma/surgery , Craniocerebral Trauma/complications , Craniotomy/methodsABSTRACT
A 56-year-old man had five nail gun-shots on his skull due to attempted suicide and was transferred to the emergency room. Because the nail head played a role as a brake, the launched nail made a hole in the skull but did not entirely pass through it. If major artery or sinuses are not involved, cautious retrieval after a small scalp incision can be performed and prophylactic antibiotics be administered for treatment.
Subject(s)
Humans , Middle Aged , Anti-Bacterial Agents , Arteries , Craniocerebral Trauma , Emergency Service, Hospital , Head , Scalp , Skull , Suicide, AttemptedABSTRACT
Increasing use of the nail gun has led to higher injury rates from the use of tools with sequential actuation. Nail gun injury can occur to various parts of the body. Very deep penetration in the brain can have fatal results. A 46-year-old male fired shots from a nail gun into his brain in a suicide attempt. This case demonstrated successful surgical management of the resultant open head injury.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Brain , Brain Stem , Craniocerebral Trauma , Fires , SuicideABSTRACT
Objective To explore the ultrasonographic characteristics in craniocerebral gunshot injured areas and the value of ultrasound technology for judging the activity of wound tissues. Methods After establishment of the model of penetrated craniocerebral gunshot wound, the ultrasonographic characteristics of the tissues in the injured areas were observed by conventional ultrasound and contrastenhanced ultrasonography(CEUS) ,and compared with the pathological changes of the wound area. Results ①A straight-looking, irregular-edged, easily distinguishable pipe-shaped high-level echo can be seen by conventional ultrasound in craniocerebral gunshot injured areas. ②The pipe-shaped strong echo usually shows non-enhancement by the CEUS,or shows homogeneous hypo-enhancement in some areas. ③Tissues around the pipe-shaped echo usually appears that the homogeneous hypo-enhancing area and non-enhancing area exist together. ④Around the above-mentioned the hypo-enhancing area and non-enhancing area, a hyper-enhancing area can be seen, and appears to be a typical ring-shaped high-level echo in short-axis section of the pipe-shaped echo. ConclusionsConventional ultrasound can easily shows the distribution of craniocerebral gunshot injured areas characterized by pipe-shaped high-level echo, and CEUS can precisely demonstrate necrotic tissues in the gunshot injured areas,distinguish them from the degenerative tissues and normal tissues. The application of ultrasound technology will greatly improve the therapeutic and treatmental level of the craniocerebral gunshot wound.
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Objective To observe the early ultrastructural changes of the optic nerves after the brain impact injury. Methods Eighteen 15-week-old Wistar rats were used in the air-pressure brain impact injury examination. All of the rats underwent the procedures of right-parietal-bone fenestration after abdominal cavity anesthesia with 1% sodium pentolbarbital (45 mg/kg), and then they were divided randomly into 3 groups, i.e., mild injury group (8 rats) underwent with 7 kg of air pressure in distance of 11 cm; severe injury group (8 rats) with 7 kg of airpressure in distance of 8 cm; and control group (2 rats) underwent with the parietal-bone fenestration but without impact injury.The ultrastructural changes of the optic nerves were observed 1, 6, 24, and 72 hours after the injury by electron microscopy. Results The difference of ultrastructural changes of optic nerve was not obvious in wild injury group and the control group, and the lanthanum nitrate was only found in the blood vessels in optic nerve. The lanthanum nitrate entered the nerve stroma 1 hour after severe and increased as time goes on. Simultaneously, displayed dilatation of endoplasmic reticulum, cavitation and tumefaction of mitochondrion, vacuolation of nerve stroma, and vacuolation of some axis-cylinder were seen in the glial cells. Conclusion The brain impact injury may cause ultrastructural changes of the optic nerve and increase of permeability of blood vessels.