ABSTRACT
The care of patients with head injuries is frequently undertaken by general surgeons who, with their anaesthetic colleagues, undertake both the monitoring and non-operative management of the patient with intracranial trauma. Only a small minority of patients will require transfer to a neurosurgical centre for surgical intervention. It is therefore important that those caring for such patients understand the pathology of injury to the brain and the indications, benefits and limitations of intracranial surgical intervention. The operative management of scalp wounds associated with minor head injuries will remain the responsibility of the general surgeon, and it is again these surgeons who most frequently undertake minor elective surgery on the scalp.
