Skull Fracture - Linear Fracture

Linear Fracture

Linear skull fractures are breaks in the bone that transverse the full thickness of the skull from the outer to inner table, are usually fairly straight and involve no displacement of the bone. The common method of injury is blunt force trauma in which the energy from the blow is transferred over a wide surface area of the skull.

Linear fractures of the skull are usually of little clinical significance unless they parallel in close proximity or transverse a suture, or they involve a venous sinus groove or vascular channel. The resulting complications may include suture diastasis, venous sinus thrombosis, and epidural hematoma. In young children, although rare, the possibility exists of developing a growing skull fracture especially if the fracture occurs in the parietal bone.