Although the majority of head injuries in children and adults involve dynamic loading conditions, some patients suffer static loading. Static loading occurs when forces are applied slowly to the head, and it produces a much different pattern of injuries. Crush injuries are usually described in the context of industrial accidents, but in our experience, these injuries are not rare in children. We report a series of seven crush injuries in young children admitted during a period of 29 months and describe our experience in the evaluation and treatment of this complex entity. Patient ages ranged from 15 months to 6 years. In four cases, the child's head was run over by a motor vehicle backing up in a driveway or parking lot. In the three other patients, the static loading occurred when the child climbed or pulled on a heavy object, which then fell over with the child and landed on the child's head. One child with cervicomedullary disruption died shortly after his arrival at the hospital. The others showed varying degrees of soft tissue injury to the face and scalp, with Glasgow Coma Scale scores ranging from 7 to 15. Computed tomograms and magnetic resonance images showed multiple and often extensive comminuted calvarial fractures, as well as subarachnoid and parenchymal hemorrhages. All patients had basilar cranial fractures. There was one cervical spine injury but no major vascular injuries. One child had pituitary transection, four had cranial nerve palsies, and another developed a delayed cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea 18 months after injury. All children made good cognitive recoveries, with some having relatively mild fixed focal deficits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)