BMJ  2006;333 (2 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7566.0

Triaging patients with mild head injury with CT is effective...

Use of computed tomography during triage for admission of patients with mild head injury is feasible and leads to similar clinical outcomes compared with observation in hospital. Af Geijerstam and colleagues (p 465) randomised 2602 patients aged 6 years or older with mild head injury to immediate computed tomography or admission for observation at 39 Swedish centres. At three months, 21.4% of those in the computed tomography group had not recovered completely, compared with 24.2% of those admitted for observation. Mortality, severe loss of function, and patient satisfaction were similar in the two groups.

Credit: PLAINPICTURE/KG/ALAMY

 

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