Fractured Skull?

Depends on how bad the fracture is and if there's any other damage.

Depends greatly on the type of skull fracture and if any brain damage has occured because of it.
A linear skull fracture is what it sounds like- a linear break in the bone of the skull- usually it requires no treatment and will heal on its own. As long as there is no bleeding in the vessels of the brain, or damage to the brain itself, there is nothing else required but time.

A depressed skull fracture is usually the cause of blunt force trauma- I portion of the skull is depressed or pushed into the brain- Not a good thing- the brain and vessels beneath are most likely damaged and the brain is likely to swell. Surgery to remove the pieces of skull in the brain is needed and most likely a craniectomy- a large prtion of the skull is removed to allow for swelling in the the brain. the outcome may not be good.

Basilar skull fracture- a fracture behind the ear at the base of the skull- can cause intracranial bleeding at worst, confusion, headached nausea, vomiting at best- unless a hemotoma accompanies this, no surgery is required. classic black and blue marks behind the ears (battle sign) signifiies this type of fracture.

These are the main types and and the inuries are not all inclusive, but I hope that helps a little.

SideKicker said:

A couple questions...

I was wondering what the hospital time was on a fractured skull.
And how would they stabilize it? Pins?

Click to expand...

You can have anything from a mild concussion and non-displaced fracture to something cracked and dented in and bleeding into the brain that requires prompt surgery if the character is not going to be dead or brain damaged.

What does the plot need? Give us that and I can give you a scenario.

Sidekicker, I second (or third) the idea that it depends on the type of fracture and the mechanism of injury...blunt force vs. a sharp impact and all that. I had a basilar skull fracture that I didn't even know about until 7 years after the fact when a Dr asked me how I had cracked my skull. I remember the event when it likely happened and the symptoms, but had no hospitalization or treatment whatsoever and am still here to talk about it. More details about the type of fracture would help answer your question better.

My hubby fractured his skull and was in a coma for five days. He has some really minor short-term memory loss. I think if your character is going to bang her head hard enough to forget herself she's gonna have to have a major blow to the head, which would require at least a few weeks of unconsciousness and some other significant injuries to go with it.

I've not had any medical training so if others post here saying something to the contrary, please listen to them and not me!

You're really describing one of the symptoms of a concussion (amnesia), not of a skull fracture per se. People often have one without the other. People with a moderate to severe concussion (there are grades for these) are typically kept overnight and then dismissed the next day if their symptoms are gone (or significantly better). Headache, vomiting, memory problems, double vision, easy fatigue, are all common post-concussive symptoms.

Enough damage to make her forget herself (no rolling of the eyes at amnesia, please, I do that enough myself), but no more. I would prefer as little damage/hospital stay as possible with it still sounding plausible.

No fracture needed. We often see snowboarders who have NO CLUE where they are because they whapped the snow and concussed themselves.

Grading on concussion, roughly, is the "A&O" scale: How alert and oriented are they in space and time.

What happened? (many don't remember the few seconds around the impact, a smaller proportion may not remember back minutes to hours - retrograde anmesia.)

What day is today (we settle for "Saturday", or "I don't know, I'm on vacation" if the person is othrewise alert)

Where are you, where did it happen, how did you get here? General memory questions. For children we ask about school, sports, and movies.

The last thing to go in a concussion is your name ... not remembering your name is serious.

Another serious sign is perseverating: repeatedly asking the same question. It means your short term memory has taken a serious whack, and the liklihood of brain injury id higher.

"She forgets herself" sounds more like complete amnesia, i.e. she doesn't remember anything about her previous life.

Is this correct? Or are you talking about just the few minutes/hours immediately prior to (whatever) caused the injury?

Do you need the amnesia to be permanent or lasting just a few hours/days/weeks/months?