Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Nov 1990
Long-term follow-up review of 31 children with severe closed head trauma.
Thirty-one children aged 3 to 15 years were followed for 5 to 11 years after suffering severe closed head trauma which caused coma for 1 week or more (median duration of coma 3 weeks). One patient remained in a persistent vegetative state until his death 9 years later. The other 30 recovered consciousness and were discharged. ⋯ Social problems were common. The worst outcomes were associated with intracranial bleeding and/or brain contusion seen on computerized tomography (CT) scans at the acute stage; the best were associated with normal CT scans. The degree of residual disability in these children seems no less than that of adults with trauma of similar severity.