Percy Sargent

Preliminary Notes ON THE TREATMENT OF THE CRANIAL INJURIES OF WARFARE

DURING tlle past five mnonths we hiave lhad tlle opportunity of seeing and dealing with a large number of cases of lhead injury at the base hospitals in France, and we now feel that our experience is sufficient to juistify a preliminary communication. Any such experience is the nmore important as, owing to modern metliods of warfare, and especially to trench figlhting, the proportion of head injulries to the total number of w-ounded is surprisinglcy large. -The excellence of the Britislh transport arrangemtients allows a large number of these eases to be dealt with at the base hospitals at an early date after the infliction of the wound, and many even of the severest cases now reaclh the base wlich would not survive the journey if the means of tranisport were less efficient. Further, the patients are rarely seriously affected by tlle journey, and the mlost imiportant and in mnany cases the determining factor in the prognosis is proper early treatment before the woun(ds lhave becomne seriously septic.