Head Injuries are One of the Top Causes of Death

What is a head injury? Head injuries are all types of injuries to the brain, tissue and blood vessels in the head, skull and scalp that occur due to impact. In society, head injuries are often known as brain concussions, cerebral hemorrhages and brain hemorrhages.
Head injuries are divided into three based on awareness, namely mild, moderate and severe. Based on the mechanism of trauma, head injuries are divided into penetrating trauma and non-penetrating trauma. Clinical symptoms due to head injuries that can occur include headaches, restlessness, decreased consciousness, body weakness, other neurological deficits, seizures, respiratory failure, and death.

The incidence of head trauma in the world is around 811-979 per 100 thousand per year. Meanwhile, the incidence of head trauma in Indonesia in 2013 in 33 provinces in Indonesia was 8.2% and the incidence of deaths due to head trauma was 100,000. Unfortunately, the number of head trauma patients who come to hospital is still low, namely only around 475-643 per 100 thousand people per year. Even though it is estimated that there are around 50-60 million new cases of head trauma worldwide. Therefore, awareness of treatment for head trauma patients still needs to be increased.
Approximately 50% of deaths due to head injuries occur within minutes of the injury at the scene or on the way to the hospital. In the United States, trauma is the fourth cause of death at all ages, namely around 6% of all deaths and is the main cause of death in the 1-44 year age group, namely from children, teenagers to adults. Based on facts in the field, reports were found from 3 class A or B teaching hospitals, namely ER RSCM Jakarta, UGG RSUD dr. Soetomo Surabaya, and the emergency room at RSU Hasan Sadikin Bandung showed that trauma patients with a Probability of Survival of 80% turned out that their management ended in death.
So far at RSU Hermina, the number of head injury cases undergoing treatment in 2023 has reached 73 cases. More genders who experience head injuries are men than women. The number of operations carried out according to indications was 40 patients or 54% of the total cases. With the number of existing patients, Hermina Kendari Hospital has succeeded in reducing the death rate by 17.5%.

Made by: dr. Laode Ma'ly Ray, Sp.BS

Reference :
Syiah Kuala University (2024). Head injury.
Wiji Astuti (2019). Implementation of Head Up 300 Actions for Head Injured Patients in the Emergency Room at Cilacap Regional Hospital.
Lintang Bawono (2018). Comprehensive Management and Management of Trauma.