A post-mortem study of the upper gastro-intestinal tract in head injury cases.

ABSTRACT

A post-mortem study was conducted to find the incidence, morphological changes and distribution of lesions in the upper gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) in victims of head injury who had survived for 24 hours or longer. The study involved naked eye and microscopic examination of the mucosa of the upper gastro-intestinal tract. In this study all the victims of head injury who had survived one or more days showed definite evidence of damage to the lining of the stomach wall. The severity of the damage increased with survival time. The damage observed was in the form of congestion, mucosal haemorrhage, superficial erosions, and superficial ulcerations accompanied by frank haemorrhage.