Late post‐traumatic headache in pediatric age

In this study we evaluate the incidence and clinical characteristics of headache which arise 12–18 months after a cranial trauma in a pediatric age group of subjects. We contacted 217 individuals who had been hospitalized for head injury to return for check-up; of the 138 who responded, there were 86 males and 52 females (mean 9.2 years). The responders were given a complete physical and neurological examination and, in the presence of at least one parent, asked to fill out a headache questionnaire. Twenty-nine per cent suffered from headache, and in 6.5% the headache was migrainous in nature. The 138 patients were split up into three sub-classes in accordance with the nature of the trauma and two sub-classes in accordance with the presence or absence of fractures. The results were then compared with those obtained from a control population (246 patients with a mean age of 8.8 years). An increased headache frequency was found in those patients with average to severe trauma. We conclude that cranial trauma...