Surviving skull trauma

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Whoa. That's... gnarly.

Hit in the head with a rock, with a giant dent in the skull, yet he survives? That's not... likely, is it?

Actually, yes, it's completely possible. While many people in Mohammed's situation would die instantly with that kind of trauma, the incredible human body has all sorts of natural paddings and defenses against such injuries. With modern medicine, and immediate care, this kind of recovery is entirely possible. Here's the stats:

People who experience mild head injuries can make a full recovery and may not need treatment for their skull fracture to heal.

Moderate or severe head injuries have less favorable outcomes. An estimated 25 percent of people with moderate head injuries will retain some degree of disability.

Between 7 and 10 percent of people with a moderate head injury will remain in a permanent vegetative state or will die as a result of their injuries.

Around 33 percent of people with severe head injuries do not survive. Source

See below for some articles about surviving catastrophic head injury (note: some of the articles feature images that you might not love).

Skull fracture: Types, symptoms, and long-term effectsA skull fracture is a break in a skull bone, and the primary cause is trauma to the head. There are different types of fracture, but symptoms usually include a headache, bruising, and a loss of balance. Some skull fractures heal on their own while others require surgery. Learn more about skull fractures here.

Determinants of Mortality in Patients With Severe Blunt Head InjuryContext Head injury is the leading cause of traumatic death in the United States.Hypothesis A set of clinical parameters available soon after injury can be used to accurately predict outcome in patients with severe blunt head trauma.Design Validation cohort study.Setting ...

I Just Hit My Head Really Hard. When Should I Freak Out?If you're feeling dizzy and a bit disoriented and hope to just “shake it off” and carry on, you might be making a big mistake.

Brain injury survivor helps researchers after becoming 1st to receive transparent skull implantJared Hager lost half his skull in a traumatic skateboarding accident. But through a twist of fate, he survived and became a medical first.

Short‐term outcomes of skull fractureAll Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents who experienced brain injury from 1935 through 1979 were identified and their medical records reviewed for survival and neurologic outcome. Minimum inclusion criteria included loss of consciousness or post-traumatic amnesia or neurologic evidence of brain injury or skull fracture. Of 4,660 cases identified, skull fractures were observed in 28%. Over half of brain-injured patients who died did so within 24 hours of trauma; among 1-day survivors, subsequent survival was moderately impaired, especially in older individuals. Mortality was lowest in subjects without a skull fracture and increased with fracture severity. Associated neurologic injuries, complications, and deficits were generally more common in patients with skull fracture than those without and were much more frequent with more severe skull fractures. The types of neurologic deficits differed little between those with and without fractures, except that subjects with complicated skull fractures had higher proportions of special sensory deficits and multiple deficits.

Metal plate fused to 2,000-year-old Peruvian warrior's skull proof of early surgery

NYPD officer leaves hospital after shooting leaves him with fractured skullNEW YORK — An NYPD officer left the hospital Sunday to applause, one day after he suffered a fractured skull when someone opened fire, shooting the officer in the head. The officer, who was o…