Long term sequelae of mild and moderate head injuries in children

: Minor head injury is a complex pathophysiologic phenomena encountered in patient with head injuries. Although much literature exists about the outcome of severely injured patients, the assessment of morbidity from minor head injuries has been relatively recently published. In spite of the name of minor head injury, some patients may have intracranial lesions. The revolution of the CT scan imaging and later MRI showed macroscopic lesions never had been expected in cases of minor head injury with GCS 13-15. Most head injuries are due to one of the two basic mechanisms: contact or inertial loading. Contact injuries require that the head strikes an object or is struck, regardless of whether the blow causes the head to move afterward. Inertial injuries are often called head motion or acceleration injuries because they result from violent head motion, regardless of whether the head moves because of direct blow or not. Contact force has one of two effects; local effects that occur at or near the site of impact and remote effects that occur far from the area of impact. Inertial loading of the head whether from impaired or from impulsive loading causes such rapid movement of the head so that resultant injuries are due only to the manner in which the head moves.