Profile of patients with head injury among vehicular accidents: An experience from a tertiary care centre of India

Background: Pattern of injuries among drivers, pillion riders and co-passengers of two and four-wheeler vehicles need to be separately evaluated and addressed. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 1545 patients (1314 males and 231 females) between 01 April, 2011 to 31 December, 2011, to evaluate the profile of head injury patients due to road traffic accidents, admitted in Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. Proper subset of cases and controls with or without helmet, seat belt and history of alcohol intake were compared. Data was analyzed to evaluate the incidence, severity, pattern of head injury and outcome of the patients. Results: Male drivers of two-wheeler vehicular accidents (71.4%) were most commonly injured. Among helmeted patients, only 4.8% sustained severe head injuries compared to 23.7% of un-helmeted patients. Only full coverage helmets were effective in preventing head injury. Among helmeted patients with a proper chinstrap, 2.6% suffered critical injuries compared to 14% of non-strapped ones. In 142 patients, helmet was at position after the crash and only 0.7% of these sustained severe head injuries. Drunk driving was noticed among 19% and 6% of two-and four-wheeler vehicular occupants, respectively. Only 7.5% of the four-wheel vehicular occupants were wearing seat belt at the time of accident. Conclusions: Injury profile of two-and four-wheeler vehicular accident victims is entirely different. A ready supply of affordable helmets of appropriate quality and strict legislation for safety constraints is the need of the hour for road safety.