Stab wounds to the temporal fossa.

Stab wounds to the temporal fossa appear as a characteristic clinical entity. Patients admitted with stab wounds to the head during the period 1970 to 1986 were reviewed retrospectively. Of these, 10 met the criteria of having suffered a stab wound that penetrated the skull and dura mater of the temporal fossa. Injury to the internal carotid artery-cavernous sinus complex (3 patients) or to the basilar artery-pons region (5 patients) was frequent. Two other patients experienced injury to the trigeminal nerve and the petrous ridge. The mechanical, neurological, radiological, and prognostic features of knife wounds to this region are discussed.