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Citation
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Lee LK, Monroe D, Bachman MC, Glass TF, Mahajan PV, Cooper A, Stanley RM, Miskin M, Dayan PS, Holmes JF, Kuppermann N. JAMA Pediatr. 2014; 168(9): 837-843. |
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Affiliation
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Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Davis School of Medicine11Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Davis School of Medicine. |
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Abstract
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IMPORTANCE: A history of loss of consciousness (LOC) is frequently a driving factor for computed tomography use in the emergency department evaluation of children with blunt head trauma. Computed tomography carries a nonnegligible risk for lethal radiation-induced malignancy. The Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) derived 2 age-specific prediction rules with 6 variables for clinically important traumatic brain injury (ciTBI), which included LOC as one of the risk factors.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk for ciTBIs in children with isolated LOC. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a planned secondary analysis of a large prospective multicenter cohort study. The study included 42 DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: 412 children aged 0 to 18 years with blunt head trauma and Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 14 and 15 evaluated in 25 emergency departments from 2004-2006. EXPOSURE: A history of LOC after minor blunt head trauma. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The main outcome measures were ciTBIs (resulting in death, neurosurgery, intubation for MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: > MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: 24 hours, or hospitalization for MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: ≥2 nights) and a comparison of the rates of ciTBIs in children with no LOC, any LOC, and isolated LOC (ie, with no other PECARN ciTBI predictors).
RESULTS: A total of 42 RESULTS: 412 children were enrolled in the parent study, with 40 693 remaining in the current analysis after exclusions. Of these, LOC occurred in 15.4% (6286 children). The prevalence of ciTBI with any history of LOC was 2.5% and for no history of LOC was 0.5% (difference, 2.0%; 95% CI, 1.7-2.5). The c RESULTS: iTBI rate in children with isolated LOC, with no other PECARN predictors, was 0.5% (95% CI, 0.2-0.8; 13 of 2780). When comparing children who have isolated LOC with those who have LOC and other PECARN predictors, the risk ratio for ciTBI in children younger than 2 years was 0.13 (95% CI, 0.005-0.72) RESULTS: and for children 2 years or older was 0.10 (95% CI, 0.06-0.19).
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Children with minor blunt head trauma presenting to the emergency department with isolated LOC are at very low risk for ciTBI and do not routinely require computed tomographic evaluation.
Language: en |