Synonyms
Periauricular or mastoid ecchymosis
Definition
Named after English surgeon, Dr. William Henry Battle, this is a clinical symptom suggestive of basilar skull/middle cranial fossa fracture. After blunt force head trauma, leaking of blood from the blood vessels in the skull, typically the posterior auricular artery, leads to a crescent-shaped bruise wrapping behind the base of the earlobe and extending posteriorly toward the point of the neck where the base of the skull meets the neck. A patient with this symptom may present with acute bloody discharge of the ear and/or nose. Battle’s sign may occur a few days following the onset of the skull fracture.
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References and Readings
Victor, M., & Ropper, A. H. (2001). Principles of neurology (7th ed.pp. 925–953). New York: McGraw-Hill.
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Rush, B. (2018). Battle’s Sign. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_222
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_222
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Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
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Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57111-9
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