Unusual Brain Trauma Injury

Unusual head trauma is rare with various mechanisms of occurrence. The injuries can be similar to those of road accidents but sometimes with significant complexities. The objective was to determine the frequency of this pathology in our practice, describe the different mechanisms and report the craniocerebral lesions caused by this type of trauma. Materials and Method: This was a descriptive study with retrospective collection spread over a period of 3 years. After selecting the files, the patients and/or their companions were contacted by telephone to inquire about them and then returned to the consultation for reassessment. Disease history and information were obtained from patients’ medical records. Result: The frequency of this pathology was 1.78% and his incidence was 0.4 cases per month. The average age of the patients was 13.47 years. All the victims were male. 41.17% of patients were in school. The mechanisms of trauma were the hoof blow 47.1%, the horn blow 29.4% and the stone blow 11.7% respectively. 23.5% of patients were confused and 11.7% children were in coma. One patient presented an anisocoria. The motor deficit was present in 5 cases. CT-scan made it possible to highlight a skull depressing fracture 58.8% and confirm a craniocerebral wound in 35.3%. The average time between patient admission to hospital and completion of surgery was 24.5 hours. The surgery had consisted of the trimming of cranio-cerebral wounds, exploration, duroplasty and lifting of skull depressing fracture. After 15 months of follow-up, the evolution was favorable in 53.3%, the morbidity was 33.4% and the mortality 17.6%. Conclusion: These are rare but serious conditions because they are fatal and disabling. An early and multidisciplinary management can hope to have a good favorable.

Epidemiological, Clinical and Therapeutic Aspects of Spinal Pathology in Military People in a Country at War

Introduction: Lumbar and sciatic pain are frequent motives of disability in military people in Mali. As spine surgery isn’t recognized enough, our study aims to analyze etiologies, epidemiology, clinical features and surgical standards in order to improve troop abilities. Methodology: Our descriptive and retrospective study has included 31 operated military patients who underwent medical or surgical procedures between 2010 and 2018 in the Military Neurology/Neurosurgery Unit and Mère-Enfant Hospital Neurosurgery department. Results: Among 553 seen in consultation, fifty percent were between 30 and 50 years old. Main motive was sciatic pain (65.5%). Seventy eight percent of our patients were field militaires and sub-officers, and 83.2% were males. All of them have benefited a CT scan or MRI with medical treatment in rheumatology or neurology. Thirty-one patients underwent spine surgery and were included in the study, so 6% (mean age: 43.52 years, 90.3% males). Lumbar spine surgery represented 54.8% of cases with lumbar canal stenosis in 64.5% of cases. It appeared that spondylolisthésis with isthmic fracture was frequent (12.9%), and traumatic cervical spine fractures were dominant in 2012. Instrumented arthrodesis was performed for 41.9% of patients, lumbar discectomy for 32.3% and laminectomies for 22.6%. Degenerative etiology was found in 77.4% of cases and we’ve noticed a good outcome in 93.5% of operated cases. Conclusion: Spinal pathology in military people in Mali is in relation with training, weight carrying and transport conditions on tough terrain. Traumatic traffic injuries are the most common even in war time.