Traumatic subdural effusions in children following minor head injury.

Aim: There is considerable disparity in literature as regards to the presentation of subdural fluid collections in children. In this report, the authors have tried to establish the clinical and radiographic criteria to define the subdural effusions (SDEs) in children following minor head injury.

Methods: Twenty cases of traumatic SDEs following minor head injury were studied prospectively. The age of these children ranged from 1 month to 2 years with an average of 9 months. The duration from the onset of first symptom to presentation in our outpatient department varied from 1 month to 13 months with a mean of 4.2 months. The duration of follow-up was 6 months to 2 years with an average of 10 months.

Results: Fourteen out of 20 (70%) children presented with subtle findings. Six out of 20 (30%) children presented with overt neurological signs and symptoms. Seizures were the most common mode of presentation in this group. Bilaterality and ventriculomegaly were more common in the subtle group, each with an incidence of 43%. Seven out of 20 (35%) cases required operative management of traumatic SDEs. Recurrence was seen in two of 20 (10%) cases who had been conservatively managed previously. Only one child showed conversion of traumatic subdural hygroma to chronic subdural hematoma on conservative management.

Conclusion: Traumatic SDEs in children following minor head injury need to be differentiated from other causes of subdural fluid collections in children. The clinical and radiological criteria proposed by us helps to identify this subset of cases in most of the children.