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Basilar fracture īasilar skull fractures are linear fractures that occur in the floor of the cranial vault (skull base), which require more force to cause than other areas of the neurocranium. Sutural diastasis may also occur in various congenital disorders such as cleidocranial dysplasia and osteogenesis imperfecta. ĭiastatic fractures can occur with different types of fractures and it is also possible for diastasis of the cranial sutures to occur without a concomitant fracture.
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It crushes the delicate tissue, similarly to a depressed skull fracture. Due to the trauma, diastatic fracture occurs with the collapse of the surrounding head bones. Most adult diastatic fractures are caused by severe head injuries. When a diastatic fracture occurs in adults it usually affects the lambdoidal suture as this suture does not fully fuse in adults until about the age of 60. While this type of fracture is usually seen in infants and young children as the sutures are not yet fused it can also occur in adults. One or more sutures of the skull causing a widening of the suture. Depressed fracture Ĭranial abnormalities in cleidocranial dysplasia including diastatic sutures.ĭiastatic fractures occur when the fracture line transverses In young children, although rare, the possibility exists of developing a growing skull fracture especially if the fracture occurs in the parietal bone. The resulting complications may include suture diastasis, venous sinus thrombosis, and epidural hematoma. Linear skull fractures are usually of little clinical significance unless they parallel in close proximity or transverse a suture, or they involve a venous sinus groove or vascular channel. The common cause of injury is blunt force trauma where the impact energy transferred over a wide area of the skull. They are usually fairly straight with no bone displacement.
#Skull fracture full
Linear skull fractures are breaks in the bone that transverse the full thickness of the skull from the outer to inner table. Basilar fractures are in the bones at the base of the skull. Diastatic fractures widen the sutures of the skull and usually affect children under three. Depressed fractures are usually comminuted, with broken portions of bone displaced inward-and may require surgical intervention to repair underlying tissue damage. Linear fractures are the most common, and usually require no intervention for the fracture itself. There are four major types of skull fractures: linear, depressed, diastatic, and basilar. Compound fractures can either be clean or contaminated. Any significant blow to the head results in a concussion, with or without loss of consciousness.Ī fracture in conjunction with an overlying laceration that tears the epidermis and the meninges, or runs through the paranasal sinuses and the middle ear structures, bringing the outside environment into contact with the cranial cavity is called a compound fracture. While an uncomplicated skull fracture can occur without associated physical or neurological damage and is in itself usually not clinically significant, a fracture in healthy bone indicates that a substantial amount of force has been applied and increases the possibility of associated injury. If the force of the impact is excessive, the bone may fracture at or near the site of the impact and cause damage to the underlying structures within the skull such as the membranes, blood vessels, and brain. A piece of a skull with a depressed skull fractureĪ skull fracture is a break in one or more of the eight bones that form the cranial portion of the skull, usually occurring as a result of blunt force trauma.
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