Table 5.

Case descriptions of all neurosurgical procedures in study

Patient, history	Randomisation	Initial hospital episode and subsequent care of injury	Reason for second visit to hospital, CT finding	Time between injury and surgery (days)	Outcome at three months (GOS-E)
Man aged 58, healthy, fell down stairs	Computed tomography	Normal CT, not admitted. No additional care	New head injury, subdural haematoma	89	7
Man aged 63, healthy, fell on ice	Observation	Uncomplicated observation overnight, no CT. No additional care	Weakness, right sided clumsiness, chronic subdural haematoma	43	8
Man aged 60, hypertension, fell when cycling	Observation	Uncomplicated observation overnight, no CT. No additional care	Progressive headache, fell from ladder, chronic subdural haematoma	47	8
Woman aged 83, hypothyroidism, cycling when hit by car	Observation	Uncomplicated observation overnight, no CT. No additional care	Dizziness, memory problems, chronic subdural haematoma	74	4

GOS-E=extended Glasgow outcome scale; CT=computed tomography