Background: The rate of incidence of head injury is higher in India because of its traffic patterns and possibly the lack of preventive measures such as helmets in motor cyclists and seatbelts in automobiles, poorly controlled traffic conditions and road conditions. Hence, this study was planned to analyse and evaluate in detail, pattern of head injury and skull fractures in victims of road traffic accidents undergoing autopsy. Materials & methods: Consecutive 200 victims using non-probability purposive sampling that died in road traffic accidents. In all these cases detailed personal information was recorded from relatives/accompanies of victim, inquest papers, and hospital records. The history regarding the circumstances of the accidents and other relevant data about injuries to the victims, the site of impact was obtained from inquest papers.  All cases were thoroughly analysed considering parameters like age and sex, time and manner of accident, profile of victims, offending vehicles, survival period of victims, area of the body injured, fatal injuries and cause of death. Pattern of skull fracture, intra-cranial haemorrhage and their distribution was recorded during post-mortem examination. A pretested Performa was used for the purpose to collect data. Results: Most commonly seen was extradural hemorrhage in 84 (42%) followed by subdural hemorrhage in 56 (28%), sub arachnoid hemorrhage in 40 (20%) and intra cerebral hemorrhage in 20 (10%). The difference was significant (P< 0.05). The most common cause was head injury seen in 130 (65%) followed by Injury to vital organ in 40 (20%) and shock & hemorrhage in 30 (15%). The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Conclusion: Head injury due to RTA is a recognized public health problem causing death and disability. It is required from concerned government authority to take appropriate and immediate measures for reducing the incidence of head injury. At the same time, people should be educated for taking good preventive actions to avoid head injury.
Key words: Head injury, Skull fractures.

Received: 8 December2018                         Revised: 22 December 2018                               Accepted: 24 December 2018

Corresponding author: Dr. Gurjeet Singh, Junior resident, Department of Forensic Medicine, GGS Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, Punjab, India

This article may be cited as: Singh G, Joshi R, Kumar A. Attitude Assessment of pattern head injury, skull fractures in road traffic accidents cases. Int J Res Health Allied Sci 2019; 5(1):28-31.