Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Little is known about the circumstances surrounding closed head trauma (CHT) in elders, and how they differ from nonelders. The study objective was to compare the 2 populations for outcome (positive cranial CT scan depicting traumatic injury, or the need for neurosurgery), mechanism of injury, and the value of the neurologic examination to predict a CT scan positive for traumatic injury or the need for neurosurgical intervention. ⋯ Significant differences exist between elder and nonelder victims of CHT with respect to mechanisms of trauma and outcomes (CT scan positive for traumatic injury, or the need for neurosurgery).
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Tangential gunshot wounds (TGSWs) to the head are gunshot wounds in which the bullet or bullet fragments do not penetrate the inner table of the skull. ⋯ In this series, 1 in 4 patients with a TGSW to the head had an ICH. All patients with TGSWs to the head should undergo head CT to rule out depressed skull fractures and ICH.