Original research paper patterns of head injuries in fatal road traffic accidents in a rural district of Maharashtra- autopsy based study.

Road traffic accidents are the major causes of death worldwide. Head injury is the single most common cause of mortality in road traffic accidents; head being the most vulnerable part of the body. The present study was undertaken on 138 victims of road traffic accidents, died due to head injury to find out the patterns of head injuries, their age and sex distribution and site distribution of different types of fractures. The highest incidence was seen in age group of 21-30 years and males clearly outnumbered females. In the present study, most of the incidents occurred between 1200 to 1800 hours. The maximum number of victims (39.57%) died while on the way to hospital. The motor-cyclists were the commonest group of victims and trucks being the commonest offending vehicles. Intracranial haemorrhages were seen in 113 cases, skull fractures were found in 95 cases and injury to brain in 51 cases. Linear fracture of skull with basal fracture was the commonest type and temporo-parietal region was involved predominantly. Subdural haemorrhage was the commonest haemorrhage observed.