Diagnosis and treatment of traumatic intracranial hematomas and hydromas according to the hospital type.

: The capability to diagnose and treat is essentially a combination of the professional qualification of the medical specialists and the degree of availability of all necessary instrumentation specific for the respective disorders in the medical institution. 610 patient treated in the Neurosurgery Department of the Plovdiv University of Medicine between 1975 and 1990 were entered into this study. Three periods of the Department's diagnostic capabilities are differentiated within this interval. They are used as an analogue model for the assessment of diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities of the different types of hospitals. The patients are categorized as survivors and dead, diagnosed and nondiagnosed in the three periods. It is concluded that all methods available should be used in diagnosing traumatic intracranial hematomas. Their condition permitting patients should always be transported to a neurosurgery clinic where an optimal environment is provided for diagnostics and treatment. Employment of a portable echoencephalograph can additionally augment the diagnostic capabilities of the consultant neurosurgeon in small health-care units especially in cases in which transportation of the patient to a neurosurgery clinic is contraindicated.