Download PDF
CC BY 4.0 · Indian Journal of Neurotrauma
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1809619
Case Report

The Clandestine Slayer: A Case Report on Carotid Artery Injuries in Traumatic Brain Injury

Vedang Bhushan Mahajan 
1   Department of Neurosurgery & Gamma Knife, All India Institute of Medical Sciences & Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, New Delhi, India
,
Surya Sri Krishna Gour
1   Department of Neurosurgery & Gamma Knife, All India Institute of Medical Sciences & Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, New Delhi, India
,
Deepak Agrawal 
1   Department of Neurosurgery & Gamma Knife, All India Institute of Medical Sciences & Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, New Delhi, India
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
Also available at
  Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Traumatic carotid artery injury is a rare yet potentially fatal complication of head and neck trauma. Often masked by primary brain injury, it may remain undiagnosed until the onset of devastating neurological consequences. We present two contrasting cases of traumatic brain injury with carotid artery injury—one where the injury was missed initially, leading to malignant infarction and death, and another where timely detection resulted in a favorable outcome. These cases underscore the importance of heightened clinical suspicion and standardized screening for carotid artery injury in specific trauma patterns, especially in patients presenting with high-risk mechanisms or unexplained neurological deterioration.

Keywords

blunt trauma - carotid injury - neck injury - screening - traumatic brain injury


Publication History

Article published online:
13 June 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Biffl WL, Moore EE, Ryu RK. et al. The unrecognized epidemic of blunt carotid arterial injuries: early diagnosis improves neurologic outcome. Ann Surg 1998; 228 (04) 462-470
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 2 Kerwin AJ, Bynoe RP, Murray J. et al. Liberalized screening for blunt carotid and vertebral artery injuries is justified. J Trauma 2001; 51 (02) 308-314
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 3 Fabian TC, Patton Jr JH, Croce MA, Minard G, Kudsk KA, Pritchard FE. Blunt carotid injury. Importance of early diagnosis and anticoagulant therapy. Ann Surg 1996; 223 (05) 513-522 , discussion 522–525
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 4 Maiese A, Frati P, Manetti AC. et al. Traumatic internal carotid artery injuries: do we need a screening strategy? Literature review, case report, and forensic evaluation. Curr Neuropharmacol 2022; 20 (09) 1752-1773
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 5 Shields J, De Stefano F, Fry L, Ebersole K, Peterson J. A bibliometric analysis of blunt cerebrovascular injury: the top 50 most instrumental articles. Neurosurg Rev 2025; 48 (01) 336
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar