Duration of post-traumatic amnesia after mild head injury

abstract

Sixty-seven adult males with minor head injury were examined soon after arrival at hospital. Orientation and post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) were assessed every 15 minutes until the patient was discharged, and the sequence and times of events after the accident recorded. Five matched groups were formed and duration of PTA checked at intervals ranging from one week to three months after injury. Distributions of PTA estimates were significantly different from final PTA estimates made before the patient left hospital, but this was independent of the time when the follow-up was made. Thirty-six subjects were questioned a second time after they had recovered. Changed estimates were recorded in four of these cases, but again the change was not related to the length of time between the two interviews. “Islands” of memory were recorded in the early part of the amnesia in more than one third of the cases. No significant correlation was found between the period of disorientation and the period of PTA.