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community in 1995 followed in 20072 by the third edition. BALLISTIC PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN PBI
Both of these previous guidelines did not address the The ability to penetrate the skull is determined
management of patients specifically injured by penetrat- primarily by the energy and the shape of the object along
ing objects including gun shot wounds and stabbing with the angle of the trajectory of the projectile.4,5 In
injuries. In 1998 the International Brain Injury Associa- addition to the shape of the projectile, understanding
tion, the Brain Injury Association of the United States the concept of kinetic energy is crucial to the under-
of America, members of the American Association of standing of the primary injury involved in PBI. Please
Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological recall that kinetic energy is characterized by the equation:
Surgeons began to work on this effort. E = 1/2mv2. In other words, the kinetic energy of a
In August 2001 the Journal of Trauma introduced projectile represents one half of the mass of the projectile
the Guidelines for the Management of Penetrating Brain multiplied by the velocity of the projectile to the second
Injury (PBI),3 which has standardized both the medical power. Hence the velocity of the projectile has a greater
and surgical management of these unique and challenging influence than the mass of the projectile alone.
injuries. These guidelines are principally founded upon In addition, for understanding the total energy of
the projectile, it is paramount to understand the
From the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Mississippi pathophysiology6,7 involved in PBI. As the projectile
Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi. travels through the brain parenchyma, it is preceded by a
Financial Disclosure: Neither of the authors has any financial or transient sonic wave that has a minimal influence of
commercial interests in association with products or information
mentioned in this manuscript.
surrounding tissue. Soon after the projectile travels in the
Proprietary Statement: Neither of the authors has any proprietary brain, it is followed by a temporary cavitation of the brain
interests in association with products or information mentioned in parenchyma, which can be several times the diameter of
this manuscript. No internal or external grants were received for this the projectile. This temporary cavity then collapses upon
manuscript. itself only to reexpand in progressively smaller undulating
Reprints: James B. Walker, MD, Department of Neurosurgery,
University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, wave-like patterns. Every cycle of temporary expansion
Jackson, MS 39216 (e-mail: jbwalker@neurosurgery.umsmed.edu). and collapse creates significant surrounding tissue injury
Copyright r 2009 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins to the brain. This can result in shear-like injury of the
neurons or can result in epidural hematomas, subdural when identified around large vascular territories and in
hematomas, or parenchymal contusions.5 association with intraventricular hemorrhage.12
Another important principle to recognize is the A common yet potentially life threatening compli-
principle of air resistance’s influence upon the ballistics of cation of subarachnoid hemorrhage is the development of
a projectile. A projectile loses its kinetic energy rapidly as vasospasm.22 Vasospasm results from a reactive phenom-
it travels through air because of its resistance.4,5 There- enon of smooth muscle contraction within the walls of the
fore, a PBI is likely to be much more severe if the vasculature. This leads to a decrease diameter of the
projectile source is close to the patient head. Once again vasculature with resulting decrease cerebral blood flow
this is due the notion that a large percentage of the initial to the brain tissue. When severe, vasospasm can lead to
kinetic energy is being transferred to the surrounding ischemia and ultimately cerebral infarction. Interestingly,
brain parenchyma. there was no difference in outcome based on a 3 month
Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) when PBI patients with
or without vasospasm were compared.23 When vasos-
NEUROIMAGING IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PBI pasm is detected (often diagnosed by increased transcra-
Computer tomography (CT) scanning of the head is nial Doppler ultrasound velocities), therapeutic measures
strongly recommended in all PBI3 when it is available. should be immediately used.
This is largely due to the fact that CT scanning provides a Treatments of vasospasm include intravascular
improved identification of embedded bone fragments and expansion and endovascular angioplasty. Medical man-
the missile trajectory.8–10 It is also superior to the plain agement of vasospasm includes conventional ‘‘HHH
films in determining the extent of the brain injury and Therapy’’ where the HHH stands for hypertension,
the detection of hematomas causing mass effect.11,12 hypervolemia, and hemodilution. Here, measures are
Although plain films may give some indication for the taken to increase the patient’s blood pressure, to hydrate
projectile path,13,14 it can sometimes be misleading in the the patient with intravenous fluids, as well as dilute the
case of ricochet injuries. A ricochet injury occurs when patient’s blood volume to decrease the hematocrit. All of
the bullet ricochets against the contralateral skull surface these measures have been shown to increase the cerebral
and then travels in another direction through the brain blood flow.24 When HHH therapy fails, the patient
parenchyma. should be considered for selective transluminal balloon
Magnetic residence imaging (MRI) is seldom angioplasty of the spasmodic vessels when available.
indicated in the setting of PBI.15,16 Moreover, MRI Balloon angioplasty involves the insertion of an inflatable
should also be highly discouraged when the substance of compliant balloon that stretches the vascular wall to
the projectile is unknown. Even in instances when the increase the cerebral blood flow.
projectile is of an MRI compatible substance, CT
scanning provides much more useful and prognostic
information when compared with MRI. ICP MONITORING
At our institution, CT angiography is often One of the greatest advancements in modern
obtained once the CT scan of the head is reviewed and management of traumatic brain injuries and PBI injuries
suggests a wound tract that travels near major vascular is the development of monitoring of intracranial pressure
structures. Projectile trajectories that create concern for (ICP). ICP monitoring involves drilling a burr hole in the
vascular injuries include areas that cross the sylvian skull and the insertion of a monitoring device or a bolt
fissure (location of middle cerebral artery), the subfalcine that couples to a water column (or monitoring device)
areas (location of anterior cerebral artery), and around that can produce continuous pressure measurements.
the carotid canal (location of the internal carotid artery). It is crucial to understand that the principle of
If CT angiography is suggestive of a vascular injury or intracranial pressure results from the fact that the
the patient’s findings on neurologic examination suggest intracranial space is a fixed volume (once the fontanelles
a vascular injury, a formal cerebral angiogram is then have fused). Moreover, the rigidity of the skull accounts
obtained. for its noncompliance where small increases in volume
Vascular complications most commonly involved in result in larger increases in pressure. Consequently, there
PBI patients are the development of traumatic aneurysms exists a limited area for the brain to swell as a result of
or arteriovenous fistulas.17–19 Once identified, surgical or cytotoxic edema or expanding hematomas. In addition,
endovascular repair may be warranted. Occasionally a cerebral blood flow is also a common influence upon
vascular injury will develop in a delayed fashion.18,19 This ICP. As cerebral blood flow increases then there is more
often presents as a delayed hematoma formation seen on blood volume within the intracranial space which raises
a repeat CT scan. intracranial pressure in concordance with the Monro-
The incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage after Kellie doctrine (ICP is determined by the relative cranial
PBI ranges from 31% to 78% which has been calculated contents of brain tissue, CSF, and blood].25 Paradoxi-
from various retrospective CT scanning data.3,20,21 The cally, cerebral blood flow can decrease to a point where
presence of subarachnoid hemorrhage after PBI has been the brain parenchyma is not adequately perfused leading
shown to correlate significantly with mortality.20 More- to ischemia and subsequent cytotoxic edema which raises
over, subarachnoid hemorrhage is of greatest concern intracranial pressure.
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