The bones of the base of the skull are temporal, occipital, wedge-shaped and latticed bones. A fracture can damage one or more bones. Typically, such fractures are open, and if there is bleeding or discharge of cerebrospinal fluid - they are classified as open penetrating craniocerebral trauma. According to their location, fractures of the base of the skull are divided into fractures of the anterior (bones covering the frontal lobes of the brain), middle (cover the pituitary and temporal lobes) or posterior (cerebellum) cranial fossae.
Symptoms
With a fracture of the base of the skull, the brain envelope is usually damaged, so one of the characteristic signs of such trauma is bleeding, as well as the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid from the ears and nose. When the head tilts sideways or sideways, the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid may increase. On the second or third day after the injury, bruises around the eyes appear (a symptom of "glasses"). With traumas of the temporal bone, there is often a hearing impairment associated with damage to the auditory nerve, and damage to the facial nerve, resulting in loss of mobility of the facial muscles. It is also possible to break the taste perception.
With a fracture of both the arch and the base of the skull, if the brain shells and blood vessels are injured, there are growing pain, nausea, loss of consciousness, slowing of the pulse, paralysis of the limbs.
The most dangerous are open fractures of the skull, which can damage the brain with bone fragments, and besides this, favorable conditions are created for getting into the wound infection, which is fraught with the development of complications such as encephalitis, meningitis, brain abscesses.
Urgent care
Skull fractures are among the most serious and dangerous injuries. They occur most often in car accidents, street injuries and head injuries.
If there is a suspicion of a skull fracture, first of all, immobilize the injured person by applying a transport busbar to the head and neck, and in case of its absence, fix the head using improvised materials. In case of detection of bleeding or discharge of cerebrospinal fluid from the ears, a sterile bandage should be applied, but no rinsing should be done. When the heart rate slows down, the patient can be given 20-25 drops of valokurdin or another drug with a similar effect, and also try to warm it, preferably with warmers or bottles of warm water.
In case of a skull fracture, the injured person should be taken to the hospital as soon as possible. The slightest delay in this situation is fraught with serious complications and a threat to life, but transportation should be carried out only by ambulance doctors. In no case should the patient be moved by himself, even at the minimum distance.
Forecasts
At a skull fracture, about half of the victims die in the first day after the injury, and in general the forecasts are not the most favorable. Of course, much depends on the severity of the damage, but in most cases, craniocerebral injuries are fraught with serious complications and a high percentage of deaths. The threat is not the fracture itself, but the accompanying brain damage, the possible development of edema, hemorrhages, damage to the arteries or sites responsible for certain functions, the development of infectious complications. Fractures of the base of the skull are most often fraught with consequences such as impaired brain activity, loss of certain feelings (hearing, smell, vision), paralysis of facial muscles or limbs.