Head Trauma: Analysis of 120 Casualties in Vietnam from July 1967 to January 1968
Abstract
To assist in the development of models for the study of head injury, 120 consecutive case histories on men who sustained head wounds were selected for analysis from the files of the Wound Data and Munitions Effectiveness Team at Edgewood Arsenal. The sample consists of 60 men who died and 60 who survived. These casualties were incurred by combat units of the US Army in Vietnam during the period of July 1967 to January 1968. It was concluded that when the brain is penetrated by a missile in combat, the prognosis is poor. Only 31% of our sample with penetrating injuries (32 cases) survived this type of injury. The prognosis of multiple lobe injuries is very poor. In our sample of fatalities, 21 of 60 men (35%) sustained this type of injury. This was the largest category of injuries to the central nervous system in the fatalities. Frontal lobe damage was observed in 50% of the survivors with open head wounds. This corresponds with reports in the literature regarding the relatively less severe prognosis of frontal lobe injury. Conversely, injuries of the parietal area accounted for the largest number of deaths in single lobe injuries. The data suggest that the helmet offers more protection against fragments than against bullets and may retard a bullet sufficiently to convert a potentially perforating wound into a penetrating one.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1970
- Accession Number
- AD0866217
Entities
People
- Harold T. Smith Jr.
- Hernan A. Campana
- Ian Sunshine