Analysis of Factors Influencing Outcome of Depressed Skull Fracture in Pediatric Group

Objective: To look for outcome and analyze the factors influencing outcome of depressed skull fracture in pediatric group managed at tertiary care neuro-surgery unit Study Design: Comparative Cross-sectional Study Place and Duration of Study: Neurosurgery department Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad Pakistan, from Jun 2021 to Apr 2022 Methodology: A prospective study was conducted on the pediatric patients managed for depressed skull fractures with any surgical intervention in our neurosurgery unit. Outcome was assessed at 72 hours by consultant neurosurgeon and classed as good outcome if discharged at 72 hours with GCS 15/15. Various sociodemographic and clinical variables were associated with presence of poor outcome among children included in the study Results: A total of 100 children were included in the final analysis. Out of them 69(69%) were male while 31(31%) were females. Mean age of the study participants was 8.88±4.731 years. Eighty-six (86%) children with depressed skull fracture had good outcome after surgery while 14(14%) had poor outcome. Statistical analysis revealed that presence of compound fracture, dural tear and brain contusion was statistically significant association with poor outcome (p-value<0.05) in our study participants. Conclusion: Outcome was good in most of the pediatric patients managed for depressed skull fractures in our study. Patients who had compound fractures, Dural tear or brain contusions at time of presentation were more at risk of having poor outcome in our study participants.