Understanding the different types of skull fractures

Ontario residents may be intrigued to know that there are different types of skull fractures, each of them distinct. For example, two of the more common types are compound and depressed skull fractures. With compound fractures, there are cuts in the scalp and fractures in the skull. With depressed fractures, pieces of the skull break and move toward the brain.

Skull fractures constitute a penetrating brain injury acquired typically through some sort of traumatic event, such as a physical assault or an auto accident. If an accident victim were to suffer a petrous bone fracture, which often causes large areas of bruising to occur below the ear and on the neck, that individual might experience nerve damage that adversely affects the sense of hearing.

Another type of fracture is called a basilar skull fracture, which occurs at the base of the cranium, near the neck. This type of injury may critically harm the blood vessels and nerves in the brain stem and spinal cord.

Anterior crania fossa fractures may leave the eyes surrounded in blue and black marks and result in nerve damage that affects the senses of sight and smell. Fractures in the cribiform plate behind the nose could cause cerebrospinal fluid to leak out of the nose, requiring medical attention to prevent brain infection and the risk of death. Diastatic fractures occur in children and separate the cranial joints that connect the cranial fissures, or jigsaw-like segments, of the skull.

Skull fractures represent a serious type of brain injury and oftentimes require extensive, costly medical treatment. Because many skull fractures occur on account of accidents and assaults, they are by and large preventable. People who suffered brain injuries as a result of another party’s actionable behavior might benefit from consulting with a personal injury lawyer about pursuing civil action.

Source: Northern Brain Injury Association of BC, “Causes Of Acquired Brain Injury“, Oct. 28, 2014