The use of brain computed tomography scan in the assessment of coup and counter coup injuries of the head

Aim: to evaluate and assess the coup and countercoup injuries of the brain and its prognosis,using the plain computed tomography scan. method: the type of study is a comparative cross sectional study,and the sample size taken is of 170 patients,it was done in civil hospital karachi,for duration of 7 months from august 2012 to february 2013. the patients were divided into two groups coup injuries (n=133),counter coup injuries (n=37). the patient population was selected,taking care of a similarity with their age,glasgow coma scale (gcs) score and outcome. the process of figuring out the site of primary injury was done by using the helical ct scan modality. results: the death rate of patients was compared with regards to their glasgow coma scale score,patient's age and the computed tomography scan pattern. significance of the study was calculated using chi-square test. a significant difference in mortality was found between patients with coup (p≤0.005 ) and patients with countercoup (p≤0.001 ) head injuries. conclusion: our study shows that counter coup brain injury has poor outcomes and requires prompt management.