Rj. Winchell et al., USE OF COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY OF THE HEAD IN THE HYPOTENSIVE BLUNT-TRAUMA PATIENT, Annals of emergency medicine, 25(6), 1995, pp. 737-742
Study objective: To identify patients presenting with hypotension due
to blunt trauma who should undergo computed tomography (CT) of the hea
d before urgent chest or abdominal operation. Design: Retrospective re
gistry-based record review. Setting: Urban Level 1 trauma center. Part
icipants: Consecutive trauma patients with suspected head injury, blun
t mechanism of injury, and hypotension who were discharged between Jan
uary 1, 1989, and December 31, 1991. Patients who were dead on arrival
or died within 15 minutes of arrival were judged unsalvageable and ex
cluded. Review of 3,224 trauma patients identified 212 as the study po
pulation. Frequency of neurosurgical intervention or general surgical
intervention within 6 hours of admission and the time required for com
pletion of CT of the head were noted. Results: Overall, 40 general sur
gical operations (19%) and 16 craniotomies (8%) were performed, with a
mortality rate of 18%. Patients with Glasgow Coma Scale scores of les
s than 8 had a 19% rate of craniotomy, and those with scores between 8
and 13 had a 9% rate. Sixteen patients had CT before surgery, with an
average delay of 68 minutes. No patient who responded to initial resu
scitation experienced hemodynamic instability in the CT suite, includi
ng 15 patients with positive diagnostic peritoneal lavage. Conclusion:
CT scan of the head before general surgical operation appears to be s
afe in patients who respond to initial resuscitation. The likelihood o
f craniotomy in patients with Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 13 or less
is comparable to the likelihood of general surgical operation. Physici
ans should be encouraged to make CT of the head a high priority in thi
s group.