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Types of Skull Fractures

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Recently, a six-year old girl almost died after hitting a tree, falling back onto a knot at the base of the tree’s trunk in grandma’s yard. The girl underwent emergency brain surgery to fix the side of her skull that broke (temporal skull fracture) in multiple pieces.   The skull fragments entered her brain. The girl will need extensive treatment, therapy, and additional future surgeries.

Types of fractures.

Skull fractures crack the bone that surrounds the brain.  Most types of skull fractures happen from a fall or blunt trauma. If a skull injury is serious depends on the location and of  cracked skull

  • Linear : 

Linear skull fractures are more common in children than adults. This type of skull fracture is a simple break or crack in the skull that is straight. Linear skull fractures can be caused by a car accident or fall.

  • Basilar : 

Basilar skull crack is a break to the bone that makes up the floor of the skull.

  • Temporal

Skull fracture on side of head

  • Depressed :

Depressed skull fracture occur from a forceful impact by a blunt object that causes “dents” in the skull bone. This break will often require surgery to elevate the bone.

Depressed Skull fractures can cause bruising of the tissue, called a contusion. 

Skull fractures typically accompany damage to a major blood vessel within the head that can cause a hematoma, hemorrhage, or heavy bleeding into or around the brain.

Surgery

Surgery after a cracked skull may occur to relieve pressure on the brain, treat bacterial infection if a cut by a sharp jagged skull fragment exposes the brain,, repair, revise a shunt, elevate the bone.

Hospital Costs 

According to CBS News, brain surgery is among the most expensive hospital costs in the US. A brain surgery called decompressive craniotomy is the third-highest hospital procedure in the US and on average costs $112,000. Another brain procedure is to drain clear fluid and bring down the pressure on the brain. It costs about $49,000. A third surgery to fix an inflamed bone tissue from a bacterial infection costs about $50,000, before insurance.

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