Trends of computerised tomography findings of traumatic head injury patients in a Ghanaian tertiary healthcare centre

Abstract

Traumatic head injury (THI) is of great public health importance as it account for over 40% of morbidities presenting at various hospitals annually. This study evaluated the patterns of head CT findings of 53 head trauma patients that visited the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) from 2016 to 2018. A retrospective approach was adopted for the study. Tables and graphical descriptors were used to summarise the extracted data using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. The results revealed that 21 (39.62%) and 26 (49.06%) of patients sustained intra-cranial and extra-cranial injuries respectively. Unspecified source and RTA contributed 60.36% and 33.97% of the sources of trauma respectively. Fractures (92.31%) and sinusitis (76.91%) were the major leading extra-axial lesion whereas brain contusions (33.32%) and intra-cranial haematomas (52.36%) were the most predominant intra-axial lesions. The sex outcome was 41 (77.36%) males and 12 (22.64%) females. Occurrence of trauma and THI were frequent in the age groups 21‑40 years and ≤10 years than any other age categories. In conclusion, greater percent of the assessed patients with THI were males, young persons and ≤10years of age. Both intra and extra-cranial injuries were observed in our study sample except that normal findings were more common.

Keywords: Trauma, head injury, computed tomography, findings, pattern