RESUMO
Objective To study the value of ultrasound in operation for traumatic brain injury (TBI) in simulation field hospitals where computed tomography (CT) equipment is unavailable.Methods The wartime conditions were simulated, and the patients at age of 18-60 years were randomly selected.According to the principles of medical ethics, all patients received CT scanning.Two neurosur-geons from the field hospital who did not know the result of CT examination cooperated with another two neurosurgeons who got the results of the CT examination to determine whether operation should be ap-plied.Forty-five patients who needed emergency craniotomy were finally selected.The operations were performed by two neurosurgeons from the field hospital, with real-time ultrasound monitoring.The results of ultrasound were compared with that of CT scanning.Results A total of 64 lesions were found by ul-trasound , and 60 of which should be treated by operation.In the meantime, 82 lesions were found by CT scanning, 64 of which should be treated operatively.Epidural hematoma and subdural hematoma had high ultrasound detection rate, followed by intracerebral hematoma, subdural effusion and brain contusion.The overall detection rate of ultrasound was 87.1%.Conclusion Ultrasound plays an important role in correctly finding the focus so as to reduce blind operation and avoid omission of the focus in field hospi-tals, where CT equipment is usually unavailable.