Q & A
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Published: November 29, 2005
Q. How long does it take for a fractured skull to heal?
A. With a head injury, the actual healing of broken skull bone may be the least of the patient's worries.
Some skull fractures, called aligned fractures, may not even require treatment, because the broken parts of the bone stay parallel and the underlying brain matter is not affected.
For other kinds of skull fractures -- which immediately damage the brain or leave it open to swelling, inflammation or infection -- most recovery among adults takes place in the first six months after the injury, medical authorities like The Merck Manual estimate.
Some improvement will follow, for perhaps as long as two years. Children improve more in the immediate aftermath of the injury and continue to improve for a longer time.
Skull fractures also fall under these classifications:
Displaced fractures, in which the break does not remain parallel and may widen.
Comminuted fractures, in which part of the bone is broken into pieces, sometimes leading to later injury as the fragments migrate.
Depressed fractures, in which broken parts are pushed in on the brain matter. These can require immediate surgery to deal with the damage to the brain and broken blood vessels.
Each form has a different course of treatment and recovery, depending on severity. C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Drawing (Drawing by Victoria Roberts)