| Penetrating head injury | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Open-head injury |
 | |
| An illustration of a brain after an "encircling" gunshot wound showing the pattern of injury caused by the bullet's path | |
| Specialty | Emergency medicine  |
A penetrating head injury, or open head injury, is a head injury in which the dura mater, the outer layer of the meninges, is breached.[1] Penetrating injury can be caused by high-velocity projectiles or objects of lower velocity such as knives, or bone fragments from a skull fracture that are driven into the brain. Head injuries caused by penetrating trauma are serious medical emergencies and may cause permanent disability or death.[2]
A penetrating head injury involves "a wound in which an object breaches the cranium but does not exit it." In contrast, a perforating head injury is a wound in which the object passes through the head and leaves an exit wound.[2]
- ^ University of Vermont College of Medicine. "Neuropathology: Trauma to the CNS." Accessed through web archive on August 8, 2007.
- ^ a b Vinas FC and Pilitsis J. 2006. "Penetrating Head Trauma." Emedicine.com. Retrieved on February 6, 2007.