Skull fracture

[Tariq Zaki]

A skull fracture is a break in a bone surrounding the brain.

Skull fractures can occur with or without brain damage.
Symptoms may include pain, symptoms of brain damage, and, in certain fractures, fluid leaking from the nose or ears or bruises behind the ears or around the eyes.
Computed tomography is used to diagnose skull fractures.
Many skull fractures require no treatment.

Skull fractures can result from injuries that break the skin (called open injuries) or do not break the skin (called closed injuries).
In people with a skull fracture, brain damage may be more severe than in people with a head injury but no fracture. How serious a skull fracture is depends partly on the type and location of the fracture. Often, if skull bones break but remain in place, the brain is not damaged.
Some skull fractures injure arteries and veins, which then bleed into the spaces around brain tissue. Blood may accumulate between the brain and the skull, causing an intracranial hematoma.
Some fractures, especially those at the back and bottom (base) of the skull, tear the meninges, the layers of tissue that cover the brain. Fractures at the base of skull, which is very thick, indicate that the injury was high-impact and brain damage is more likely.
If a fracture breaks the skin, bacteria may enter the skull through the fracture, causing infection and severe brain damage.
Sometimes, pieces of the fractured skull bone press inward and damage the brain. These types of fractures are called depressed fractures. Depressed skull fractures may expose the brain to the environment and foreign material, leading to infection or the formation of abscesses (collections of pus) within the brain.