A 40-year-old woman was involved in a car crash. She was unconscious for 5 minutes. X-ray revealed a depressed fracture in the frontal region. Which of the following statements is true of skull fracture?
It always requires surgical exploration.
It is compound if multiple.
It requires burr holes if compound.
In the anterior cranial fossa, it may produce rhinorrhea.
Skull fractures should be explored only if they are compound, if a depressed fracture is present, or if an intracranial lesion requires exploration. Compound fracture implies that the fracture site communicates with the exterior. Rhinorrhea is caused by leakage of CSF through a fractured cribriform plate.
Trauma