Head injury is, in general, damage to the cranio-brain district caused by any physical event of a mechanical nature. Head trauma is responsible for 50% of all traumatic deaths and 2% of all deaths.
In industrialized societies, the major cause of head injuries, in people under 75 years of age, is related to transit accidents (48 percent), in which there is involvement of cars, motorcycles or bicycles and pedestrians. For people over 75 years of age, the majority of head injuries are due to accidental falls and household accidents (25%). Violence is identified as the cause in 4 percent of all head injuries (robbery assault and gunshot wounds, brawling, fighting for trivial reasons), occupational injuries are found in 8 percent, and about 10 percent are due to injuries in the course of sports activities. More than 50% of patients with head trauma have severe associated polytrauma. To adequately understand the multiple injuries that can result, the mechanisms of head injury must first be explained.
