Head injury caused by tear gas cartridge in teenage population.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the head injury in children caused by an unusual projectile, a tear gas cartridge. The study is the only one on this subject which has been done in a teenage population.

Method: This was a prospective study conducted over a period of 4 years in which all the patients aged less than or equal to 18 years and who had a head injury due to a tear gas cartridge were included.

Results: We had 5 patients in our study group. All the patients were males. Commonest CT scan finding was brain contusion with skull fracture. One of our patients died. One patient continues to be in vegetative state whereas 3 had a good outcome.

Conclusion: Tear gas cartridge, though considered as one of the benign modalities of controlling agitated crowds, is not really benign. It can cause serious injuries and mortality. The personnel using them might be trained in a better way so that the people do not receive direct hits. In addition some changes in the design of tear gas cartridge can be done to decrease the impact to the skull.