CRANIAL NERVE AVULSION AND OTHER NEURAL INJURIES IN ROAD ACCIDENTS

Abstract

Post–mortem examinations were conducted in 21 cases of fatal road trauma, and damage was found in the second, third, fourth and sixth cranial nerves, the chiasm, and the extraocular muscles. In discussing the findings, attention is drawn particularly to the following: (a) the variety and extent of the lesions which can occur without a fracture of the skull; (b) the apparent tendency for damage to the ocular motor nerves to occur in their rootlet origins at the brain stem; (c) the possible significance of hæmorrhage in and about the third cranial nerve in the superior orbital fissure, and of primary contusion necrosis of this nerve; (d) the position of hæmorrhages in the extraocular muscles and their probable sequelæ; (e) the difficulty of siting traumatic optic nerve injuries.