OBJECTIVE: To describe the correlation between the Glasgow Coma Scale, risk factors, age, sex and tracheal intubation with the cranial computed tomographic findings in patients with traumatic brain injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, cross sectional study was developed with 102 patients who were given a Glasgow coma score and submitted to computed tomography at the first 12 hours following admission. RESULTS: The mean age of the entire series was 37.77 ± 18.69 years, with prevalence of male patients (80.4%). The most common causes of head injury were: automobile accidents (52.9%), falls (20.6%), pedestrian injuries (10.8%), falls to the ground (7.8%) and aggression (6.9%). In the present study, 82.4% of patients had traumatic brain injury rated as mild, 2.0% as moderate and 15.6% as severe. Tomographic findings such as subgaleal hematoma, skull fractures, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral contusion, extra-axial blood collection and diffuse cerebral edema were observed in 79.42% of the patients. Most of the findings of severe traumatic brain injury were observed in the patients above 50 years (93.7%) and in this group, all the patients required tracheal intubation. CONCLUSION: Statistical significance was observed in the correlation between the Glasgow Coma Scale, age > 50 years (p < 0.0001), need for tracheal intubation (p < 0.0001) and CT findings.
Head injury; Glasgow Coma Scale; Epidemiology; Computed tomography
