Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 27, 2025
Assessing Changes in Synaptic Plasticity Using an Awake Closed-Head Injury Model of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: January 20, 2023
"Locked up inside home" - Head injury patterns during coronavirus disease of 2019 pandemic
Nishant Goyal1, Srikant Kumar Swain1, Kanav Gupta1
1Department of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic saw fewer head injury admissions, but those admitted had more severe injuries, leading to increased mortality. This highlights a shift in neurotrauma patterns during the pandemic.
Area of Science:
- Neurosurgery
- Trauma Surgery
- Epidemiology
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic confined citizens, altering daily life and potentially impacting injury patterns.
- Unique trends in neurotrauma, including changes in injury mechanisms, severity, and patient outcomes, emerged during the pandemic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the changes in neurotrauma admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To compare head injury patterns before and during the pandemic, including different phases like lockdown and unlock periods.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of neurotrauma admissions to a neurosurgery department.
- Comparison of data from the COVID-19 pandemic period with the same period in the previous year.
- Patients categorized into "lockdown" and "unlock" phases for detailed analysis.
Main Results:
- Head injury admissions decreased by 16.8% during the pandemic, with fewer admissions during lockdown (2.7/week) compared to unlock (6.8/week).
- Road traffic accidents (RTA) became a more frequent cause of injury during the unlock phase (56.9%) compared to lockdown (29.6%).
- A significant increase in severe head injuries (156.25%) and mortality (from 12.4% to 22.5%) was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusions:
- The COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in overall head injury admissions, particularly during lockdown.
- A concerning trend of increased severity in head injuries and associated injuries was noted.
- The study concluded that the pandemic resulted in significantly higher mortality rates among neurotrauma patients.
Background:
As citizens have been forced to stay home during coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the crisis created unique trends in the neurotrauma patterns with changes in mode, severity, and outcome of head injured patients.
Methods:
Details of neurotrauma admissions under the neurosurgery department at our institute since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in the country were collected retrospectively and compared to the same period last year in terms of demographic profile, mode of injury, GCS at admission, severity of head injury, radiological diagnosis, management (surgical/conservative), and outcome. The patients were studied according to which phase of pandemic they were admitted in - "lockdown" period (March 25 to May 31, 2020) or "unlock" period (June 1 to September 15, 2020).
Results:
The number of head injuries decreased by 16.8% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, during the lockdown period, the number of admissions was 2.7/week while it was 6.8/week during the "unlock" period. RTA was the mode of injury in 29.6% patients during the lockdown, while during the unlock period, it was 56.9% (P = 0.000). Mild and moderate head injuries decreased by 41% and severe head injuries increased by 156.25% during the COVID-19 pandemic (P = 0.000). The mortality among neurotrauma patients increased from 12.4% to 22.5% during the COVID-19 era (P = 0.009).
Conclusion:
We observed a decline in the number of head injury admissions during the pandemic, especially during the lockdown. At the same time, there was increase in the severity of head injuries and associated injuries, resulting in significantly higher mortality in our patients during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
