Skull roentgenography in the evaluation of head injury

The role of skull roentgenograms in determining choice of therapy, hospital admission, and length of hospitalization was evaluated in 106 consecutive patients with head injury. Thirty patients were discharged from the emergency room after initial evaluation and had uneventful recovery. Seventy-six were admitted and discharged without operative treatment one to ten days later. Only five had pathologic skull findings roentgenographically. Of these, one was discharged from the emergency department; the remaining four were admitted because of abnormal neurologic findings. All five recovered uneventfully. Another patient who had a normal roentgenographic evaluation required subsequent admission for craniotomy. Skull roentgenograms were an unimportant factor in the management of head injury patients and did not eliminate the need for complete and serial neurologic evaluation.