Early Surgery Does Not Seem to Be a Pivotal Criterion to Improve Prognosis in Patients with Frontal Depressed Skull Fractures

INTRODUCTION There has been much debate about the ideal timing of surgery of frontal depressed skull fractures (DSF). In this paper, we assess whether timing of surgery may have influenced outcome. METHODS Retrospective cohort of 40 consecutive patients with frontal DSF who underwent surgical treatment over a 36-month period. The patients were divided into early surgery group (ESG) which were operated within 24 h and delayed surgery group (DSG). RESULTS The population comprised 39 (97.50%) men and the mean age was 27.9 years (range, 2-81 yr). There was no difference of age (P = 0.53), gender male (P = 1.00), presence of focal lesion on head CT (P = 0.89), hypotension (P = 0.28), and hypoxia (P = 0.15). Mean Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was significantly lower in patients of ESG than DSG (8.75 and 11.7, resp., P = 0.02). There was no difference between the groups in relation to death (P = 0.13), unfavourable outcome (P = 0.41), late posttraumatic epilepsy (P = 0.64), and smell-and-taste disturbances (P = 1.00). Only one patient (3.5%) evolved meningitis during follow-up. CONCLUSION We found no difference between the ESG and DSG in respect to death, unfavourable outcome, LPE, and STD.