Head injury admissions to a teaching hospital.

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% were discharged within 48 hours, only 3% required definitive neurosurgical care, and the overall mortality was 2%. 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.