Site of head injury
The eye and orbit was the leading specified site of injury (79,700), making up 1 in 5 head injury presentations to ED (Table 7). Among hospitalisations, intracranial injuries were the most common (24,700, 22%).
Head injury hospitalisations | n | % | Head injury ED presentations | n | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intracranial | 24,693 | 22 | Eye and orbit | 79,694 | 20 |
Scalp and skull | 14,878 | 13 | Intracranial | 32,858 | 8 |
Eye and orbit | 10,225 | 9 | Scalp and skull | 22,657 | 6 |
Sources: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database and AIHW National Non-admitted Patient Emergency Department Care (NNAPEDC) Database
Males made up nearly three-quarters of cheek and jaw injury hospitalisations (73%), and around 60% of intracranial, nose, or ear injuries.
Click the interactive head display in Figure 12 to explore the top causes and injury types by site of head injury.
Figure 12: Number of ED presentations and hospitalisations for head injuries, by site of injury, 2020–21
An interactive head visualisation showing that the leading specified sites of head injuries was the eye and orbit for ED presentations, and intracranial injuries for hospitalisations.
Age and sex have distinct differences across injury sites.
The 65 and over group had the highest rates of injury involving the:
- scalp and skull
- eye and orbit
- intracranial injuries
- nose (Figure 13).
The 0–4 age group had the highest rates for injuries to the lip and oral cavity and ear, and the 15–24 age group had the highest rates for injuries to the cheek and jaw.
The scalp and skull is the only head injury where females have a slightly higher rate than males.
Figure 13: Numbers and rates of head injuries as principal diagnoses for hospitalisations by site of injury and sex, 2020–21
A bar graph showing the rates and numbers for males and females across head injury site. The 65 and over age group has the highest rates for most head injury sites.
The cheek and jaw had the highest number of head injury diagnoses per hospitalisation, with an average of 2.1 diagnoses per hospitalisation (Table 8). This was followed by intracranial injuries (2.0). Cheek and jaw injuries also had the highest average number of procedures per hospitalisation (2.3).
| Head diagnoses per hospitalisation | Procedures per hospitalisation |
|---|---|---|
Cheek and jaw | 2.1 | 2.3 |
Intracranial injury | 2.0 | 2.1 |
Nose | 1.6 | 1.7 |
Eye and orbit | 1.5 | 1.5 |
Scalp and skull | 1.4 | 1.3 |
Lip and oral cavity | 1.4 | 2.1 |
Other, multiple and incompletely specified head regions | 1.4 | 0.9 |
Ear | 1.2 | 1.9 |
Total | 1.6 | 1.5 |
Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.