UNSPECIFIED (1998) Compound anterior cranial base fractures: classification using computerized tomography scanning as a basis for selection of patients for dural repair. JOURNAL OF NEUROSURGERY, 88 (3). pp. 471-477. ISSN 0022-3085

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Abstract

Object. A classification is proposed to organize anterior cranial base fractures systematically according to their location and size. The goal of this study was to determine whether these two variables, irrespective of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhea, are related to the long-term risk of posttraumatic meningitis and, hence, to standardize decision making concerning surgical repair of associated CSF fistulas. Methods. With the aid of high-resolution thin-section coronal computerized tomography (CT) scanning, anterior cranial base fractures were classified into the following four major types: I, cribriform; II, frontoethmoidal; III, lateral frontal; and IV, complex (any combination of the other three types). Fractures with a maximum bone displace ment that extended farther than 1 cm in any plane were classified as "large" and those less than 1 cm as "small." The authors used this classification in a study of 48 patients who were treated by conservative (20 patients) or surgical (28 patients) means. The results showed a gradation of risk: the fracture most Likely to develop infection was a large cribriform (Type I) and the least likely was a small lateral frontal (Type III). Statistical analysis showed that the trend for an increased infection rate was related to the cumulative effect of three variables in the following order: 1) prolonged duration of rhinorrhea (analysis of variance [ANOVA], p = 0.017); 2) large size of fracture displacement (ANOVA, p = 0.079); and 3) fracture's proximity to the midline (ANOVA, p = 0.015). Conclusions. In this series, microsurgical repair was accompanied by a minimum complication rate. Hence, the authors recommend that patients with fractures that combine the aforementioned variables should be considered to have a high long-term risk of infection and their injury should be surgically repaired as soon as the posttraumatic edema has subsided. This applies to the following fractures: large cribriform (Type I) with transient rhinorrhea lasting 5 to 8 days and large frontoethmoidal (Type II) with prolonged rhinorrhea lasting longer than 8 days. Furthermore, the authors conclude that this classification can improve the management of posttraumatic CSF fistulas of the anterior cranial base and may provide insights into the mechanisms underlying their spontaneous repair and susceptibility to meningitis.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry R Medicine > RD Surgery
Journal or Publication Title:	JOURNAL OF NEUROSURGERY
Publisher:	AMER ASSOC NEUROLOGICAL SURGEONS
ISSN:	0022-3085
Date:	March 1998
Volume:	88
Number:	3
Number of Pages:	7
Page Range:	pp. 471-477
Publication Status:	Published
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/15975

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