TITLE:
Penetrating Head Trauma in Rural Children: Practices Associated with Increased Morbidity
AUTHORS:
Abdoulaye Diop, Natacha Maria Sambou, Adja Seynabou Diallo, Aureol Kodia, Momar Code Ba
KEYWORDS:
Penetrating Head Injuries, Children, Rural Areas
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.16 No.2,
March
10,
2026
ABSTRACT: Penetrating brain injuries are characterized by the presence of brain matter through a bone orifice of traumatic origin. These traumatic brain injuries are rare, accounting for about 0.4% of traumatic brain injuries, and their causes are multiple. In this manuscript, we report six rare cases of penetrating head injuries in children over a one-year period treated in our department. They are particularly serious due to the intracranial vascular lesions that can occur immediately, as well as the major complications occurring at a distance, such as infection and epilepsy. The observations reported in this manuscript are peculiar because of their circumstances and mechanisms of occurrence, the penetrating object that caused the traumatism, the actions taken at the scene of the accident and during pre-hospital care, and the resulting infectious complications.