Prediction Rules may Reduce CT Scans in Children with Head Injuries

Many children that suffer a head injury do not require computed tomography (CT) scans, which result in exposure to potentially harmful radiation. In a recent U.S. study, researchers used characteristics to predict which children had a significantly low risk of serious injury to the brain after injuring their heads. The research team, led by Dr. Nathan Kuppermann of the Davis Medical Center at the University of California in Sacramento, evaluated data from 42,000 children who had sustained a head injury. Thirty-five percent of those children received a CT scan. A mere 1 percent of those children had a clinically-important traumatic brain injury, with just 60 of those 376 children requiring brain surgery.

For children under age 2, the characteristics used to identify which children did not have a clinically-important traumatic brain injury were:

• normal mental status
• no scalp haematoma except frontal
• no loss of consciousness or loss of consciousness for less than 5 seconds
• non-severe injury mechanism
• no palpable skull fracture
• normal behavior according to the parents
  

For children ages 2 through 18, the characteristics were:

• normal mental status
• no loss of consciousness
• non-severe injury mechanism
• no signs of basilar skull fracture
• no severe headache
• no vomiting

The guidelines for children under age 2 led researchers to accurately identify all 1,176 patients who did not suffer from a clinically-important traumatic brain injury and did not require a CT scan. Of the 2 and above group, researchers were able to predict just about all of the children (3,800) who did not have a clinically-important traumatic brain injury, missing just two children who did. The findings of the study, which appear in The Lancet, a leading medical journal, may help avoid unnecessary CT scans for children not suffering from clinically-important traumatic brain injuries in the future.

If you or a loved one has suffered a brain injury due to someone else’s negligence, you need the help of an experienced brain injury attorney who will guide you through this traumatic time, defend your rights and get the compensation you deserve. Call or e-mail the lawyers at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today for your free consultation. We serve clients with Brooklyn brain injury, Bronx brain injury, Queens brain injury, Nassau brain injury and Suffolk brain injury cases.

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