Is Routine Brain CT Scan, Performed for Early Follow Up in Head Trauma Patients with GCS 14-15, Always Justified?

Abstract

Hypothesis: Routine repeat head Computed Tomography (CT) for patients with traumatic head injury, initially presenting with GCS of 14-15, does not change therapeutic policy in these trauma patients. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of trauma patients with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) of 14-15 on admission, suffering from different types of intracranial bleeding who were admitted for observation in a level II trauma center. The size of hematoma on initial head CT was measured and compared to findings of repeat CT performed following 12hours. Patients were evaluated as to changes in neurologic status and treatment. Results: 68 patients treated over a period of 5 years were evaluated. Forty two (61.8%) were male and 24 (38.2%) were female. Mean age was 56.2 years and mean ISS score was 12 ± 5.1. Initial GCS was 15 in 51 patients and 14 in 15 other patients. CT scan revealed 7 epidural hematomas, 20 subdural hematomas, twenty eight intraparenchymal bleeding, and 13 subarchnoid hemorrhages. Repeat CT revealed an increase in size of the hematoma in 8 eight patients. None of these patients suffered from clinical deterioration. Repeat CT in 12 patients who's GCS deteriorated, did not show any significant changes on the repeat CT scan. None of the patients underwent intervention after a routine repeat CT. Conclusions: Routine repeat CT scan of head, performed 12 hours after the initial scan did not change the therapeutic policy in GCS 14-15 head trauma patients. The need for mandatory CT of head in mild traumatic brain injury should be questioned.

Correlation Between Epidural Hematoma Volume in Temporal Region with Glasgow Coma Scale on Patients with Head Injury at Haji Adam Malik General Hospital Medan in the year of 2018

“…Based on the degree of head injury, the most frequent cases of EDH are minor head injuries (GCS [13][14][15]. This is consistent with previous research which states that the majority of EDH patients are categorized as minor head injuries with a percentage of 61-83% [11,13,14,15].…”

“…Based on the degree of head injury, the most frequent cases of EDH are minor head injuries (GCS [13][14][15]. This is consistent with previous research which states that the majority of EDH patients are categorized as minor head injuries with a percentage of 61-83% [11,13,14,15]. This is consistent with the theory that the accumulation of blood formed in EDH is located on the outside of the dura mater so that it does not directly interfere with brain tissue and is usually caused by low energy collisions [7].…”