Descriptive Study of Fatal Head Injuries and Its Associated Factors Sustained in Road Traffic Accident Cases in Prayagraj

Fatal road traffic accidents (RTA) have emerged as a major public health problem in the modern era. The present study conducted over a period of one year besides focusing on the demographic and medical aspects of head injuries due to fatal RTA is unique in sketching a pattern of head injuries. Males contributed to the majority (84.77%) of RTA while only 92 out of 604 (15.23%) victims were females. The majority of the victims were two-wheeler occupants with a total number of 317 cases (52.48%) who are followed by four-wheeler occupants with a total number of 152 cases (25.17%). The fatal head injury occurred on main road 320 (52.98%) which includes National and State highways, followed by the turning of main road I58 (26.16%). Sixty-three (10.43%) cases out of 604 cases alcohol was a contributory factor for the fatal head injury due to RTA. Extra-cranial injuries and scalp abrasion 594 (98.34%) were found in the majority of fatal head injury cases. Scalp laceration, 563 (93.21%) out of 604 cases, was the second most common extra-cranial injury observed in our study. Subdural haemorrhage 367 (60.76%) is the most common intracranial haemorrhage observed in the present study followed by sub-arachnoid haemorrhage 248 (41.06%) and intra-cerebral haemorrhage 195 (32.28%). The least number of intra-cranial haemorrhages observed was brain stem haemorrhage, that is, 54 cases (8.94%) out of 604 cases.