Reducing Unnecessary Head Computed Tomography in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal
Nathaniel John WebsterFelicia Stewart

Abstract

There is growing concern about the frequency of computed tomographic (CT) scans performed for evaluation of adults with suspected mild traumatic brain injury. The Canadian CT Head Rule and the New Orleans Criteria are the most studied head CT decision tools that aid providers in determining which patients do not require a CT scan. This article examines recent research to determine which of these tools has proven to be the most effective at safely reducing the use of head CT scans. The reviewed studies concluded that both the Canadian CT Head Rule and the New Orleans Criteria had similar sensitivities, but the Canadian CT Head Rule showed superior specificity in predicting the presence of a clinically significant brain injury. The authors of this article recommend that the Canadian CT Head Rule be used in the evaluation of minor head injury to reduce unnecessary CT scans.

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Citations

Jan 8, 2019·JAMA : the Journal of the American Medical Association·Ohad OrenJohn P A Ioannidis
May 16, 2019·European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery : Official Publication of the European Trauma Society·Tomas VedinPer-Anders Larsson
Mar 20, 2018·European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery : Official Publication of the European Trauma Society·Tomas VedinPer-Anders Larsson
Aug 28, 2020·Emergency Radiology·Farzaneh ShobeirianMorteza Sanei Taheri
Nov 5, 2020·International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery·A M WeyhS O Salman

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Brain Injury & Trauma

brain injury after impact to the head is due to both immediate mechanical effects and delayed responses of neural tissues.