Clinical Analysis of Cranial Nerve Injuries in Craniocerebral Trauma

ABSTRACT

The clinical analysis of cranial nerve injuries was performed on 435 cases with cranoicrerbral trauma. This prospective study included the correlation between cranial nerve injuries and risk factors such as intracranial hematoma, initial Glasgow Coma Scale(GCS) score, pneumocephalus, and other combined injuries. The results were revealed as follows : 1) 133 cranial nerve injuries(on 97 patients) were noted among 435 craniocerebral trauma victims(97/435=22.2%). 2) The order of frequent cranial nerve injuries was facial nerve(7.3%), olfactory nerve(6.9%), oculomotor nerve(4.4%), abducens nerve(3.9%), optic nerve(3.2%), etc. 3) Bilateral involvment of cranial nerve injuries was noted in 16.5%(22/133). 4) The incidence of immediate onset of cranial nerve injuries was 66.9%(89/133). 5) The incidence of cranial nerve injuries was significantly high in patients with pneumocephalus and low initial GCS score. 6) The functional recovery of injured cranial nerve within 3 months was noted in 30.1%(40/133).