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Purpose: Auditory nerve injury is one of the most common nerve injury complications of skull base fractures. However, there is currently a lack of auxiliary examination methods for its direct diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to find a more efficient and accurate means of diagnosis for auditory nerve injury., Methods: Through retrospectively analyzing the results of brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) and high-resolution CT (HRCT) in 37 patients with hearing impairment following trauma from January 1, 2018 to July 31, 2020, the role of the two inspection methods in the diagnosis of auditory nerve injury was studied. Inclusion criteria were patient had a clear history of trauma and unilateral hearing impairment after trauma; while exclusion criteria were: (1) severe patient with a Glasgow coma scale score ≤5 because these patients were classified as severe head injury and admitted to the intensive care unit, (2) patient in the subacute stage admitted 72 h after trauma, and (3) patient with prior hearing impairment before trauma. According to Goodman's classification of hearing impairment, the patients were divided into low/medium/severe injury groups. In addition, patients were divided into HRCT-positive and negative groups for further investigation with their BAEP results. The positive rates of BEAP for each group were observed, and the results were analyzed by Chi-square test (p < 0.05, regarded as statistical difference)., Results: A total of 37 patients were included, including 21 males and 16 females. All of them were hospitalized patients with GCS score of 6-15 at the time of admission. The BAEP positive rate in the medium and severe injury group was 100%, which was significantly higher than that in the low injury group (27.27%) (p < 0.01). The rate of BEAP positivity was significantly higher in the HRCT-positive group (20/30, 66.7%) than in the HRCT-negative group (1/7, 14.3%) (p < 0.05). Twenty patients (54.05%) were both positive for BEAP and HRCT test, and considered to have auditory nerve damage. Six patients (16.22%) were both negative for BEAP and HRCT test, and 10 patients (27.03%) were BAEP-negative but HRCT-positive: all the 16 patients were considered as non-neurological injury. The rest 1 case (2.70%) was BAEP-positive but HRCT-negative, which we speculate may have auditory nerve concussion., Conclusion: By way of BAEP combining with skull base HRCT, we may improve the accuracy of the diagnosis of auditory nerve injury. Such a diagnostic strategy may be beneficial to guiding treatment plans and evaluating prognosis., (Copyright © 2021 Chinese Medical Association. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The treatment of severe trauma, especially multiple injuries, requires multidisciplinary collaboration. The current study aims to highlight the challenges of consultation mode for severe trauma in general hospitals and emphasizes the need to create a new temporary-sustainable team. It suggests developing an information consultation mode and enforcing the fine management to improve the quality and safety of the medical treatment. The management mode of a temporary-sustainable team will reduce the cost and improve the treatment efficiency. Overall, a temporary-sustainable team has significant advantages over a traditional multidisciplinary team for severe trauma treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests., (Copyright © 2020 Chinese Medical Association. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

From July 2003 to July 2009, 15 cases of subdural hematoma with swirl signs were treated in our hospital and their clinical data were retrospectively analysed. The mortality was compared between these patients and those with typical acute subdural hematoma who were treated at the same time in our hospital. Among the 15 cases, full recovery was achieved in 4 cases, slight disability in 2, grave disability in 2 and death in 7 (46.7%). The mortality of these patients was conspicuously higher than that of typical subdural hematoma (14/83, 16.9%, P < 0.01). Subdural hematoma with swirl signs is often suggestive of hazardous pathogenetic condition and early diagnosis and prompt surgical intervention is essential to reduce mortality.