Depressed Skull Fracture in Infants: The Role of Vacuum-Assisted Intervention

Elevation of depressed skull fractures in pediatric patients is indicated when the depression extends below the level of the inner table. Although open surgical reduction is an option for treatment, closed vacuum-assisted elevation has been found to have a high success rate and low complication rates when employed in children less than 6 months of age without disruption of the cortex. In this article, we describe two recent cases from our institution and summarize the reported cases in the literature including information about fracture specifics, device used, technical approach, and success rate of the procedure.