An Epidemiologic Study of Traumatic Brain Injury in Children, Middle‑Aged, and Elderly Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the major health and socioeconomic problems in the world. How clinicopathological features of TBI differ by age is unclear. The present study evaluated the epidemiology of TBI and identified any variable that differs among pediatric, middle‑aged, and elderly patients.

The descriptive cross‑sectional study was conducted on patients with TBI from April 2019 to April 2021. The study population consisted of all patients with TBI who were admitted to the Emergency Department. The inclusion criteria were all TBI patients who were a candidate for head computed tomography (CT) scans. The patients’ clinicopathological parameters were recorded.

Among 3513 patients with TBI who underwent CT scans, 212 patients died (6.0%). The mean age of subjects was 30.67 ± 19.42, and 69.2% of the patients (2430 cases) were male. Motor vehicle accidents (48.4%) were the most prevalent mechanisms of injury. Intracranial lesions were seen on the head CT scan in 509 (14.5%) patients. The highest mortality rate was shown in elderly patients and the lowest in children (P < 0.001). Falls were the most common mechanism of injury in the elderly subjects (65.2%), while motor vehicle accidents were the most common in the children and middle‑aged groups (40.9% and 54.0%). The incidence of intracranial lesions and moderate‑to‑severe head injuries was significantly higher in the elderly subjects (P < 0.001). Subdural hematoma and subarachnoid hemorrhage were the most common CT findings in elderly patients (13.3% and 11.3%). Brain contusion and skull fracture were the most common findings in the children (6.0% and 4.3%).

The present study found that the clinicopathological parameters were significantly different among children, middle‑aged patients, and elderly patients.