Article Text
Emergency casebook
Unguarded electric plugs cause penetrating head injuries in children
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A 9 month old boy fell from a bed onto an electric plug embedding the earth pin within his skull. The child did not lose consciousness and the mother removed the plug causing initial brisk bleeding. Examination revealed a 1 cm laceration to the left of the midline in the frontal area immediately behind the hairline. Neurological examination was normal. Radiography of the skull demonstrated a depressed skull fracture (fig 1). The wound was debrided under general anaesthesia with prophylactic antibiotic cover. The bone fragments were raised to reveal an intact dura. The fragments were washed and replaced and the pericranium, galea, and skin closed in separate layers. …