Τraumatic brain injury in the prefecture of Laconia during the time period of 2005-2010

In Greece, every year, about 35.000 people admitted to hospitals due to traumatic brain injuries and about 1.600 of them dies. The main cause is traffic accidents. They can cause death to young people, especially 19 to 25 years. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and distribution of traumatic brain injuries in the Emergency Department of the General Hospital of Sparta. Material and Methods: This study was carried out by collecting data from the hospital records and the patients log books at the Emergency Department of Sparta General Hospital. A specially designed data record sheet was employed, which included patient demographic data, hospital access method, clinical condition, injury classification and severity, possible co-existing trauma, diagnostic tests, treatment, clinical outcome as well as data relating to the trauma mechanism and causes. Statistical evaluation took place in the form of parametric tests with IBM SPSS Statistics 20. Results: A total of 1785 head trauma injury adults patients, that were referred to the Emergency Department from 2005 to 2010 were included. Exploring the association of cranium-cerebral causes with demographic factors, as far as the adults are concerned the following emerged: The causes of CCT are influenced by gender (p<0.001), nationality (p<0.001) and place of residence (p<0.001).The main cause of CCT for men was car accidents while for women it was falls. The main cause of CCT among Greeks is falls while among foreigners it is physical abuse. In all the municipalities of Laconia the main cause of CCT was car accidents, apart from the residents of Evrotas and Sparta for whom the main cause was falls. The main outcome for the adults was associated with the admission to hospital (p<0.001) and with the cause of CCT (p<0.001). Conclusions: The study highlighted the extent of this social issue at local level and the enormous problem of recording traumatic brain injury. Deficiencies identified in missing information and diversity in ways of keeping data.

Keywords: Traumatic brain injury, treatment, epidemiology, accidents