A prospective study of head injury admissions to a city teaching hospital over one year has shown that most were minor. Of the 918 patients, 85 per cent were discharged within 48 hours, only 3 per cent required definitive neurosurgical care, and the overall mortality was 2 per cent. Most cases came to hospital after 5.00 p.m. especially at the weekend. Head injuries accounted for almost one-third of emergency admissions to male general surgical wards.
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