Pediatric minor head trauma

Head trauma is one of the most common childhood injuries, annually accounti ng for more than 500,000 emergency depart ment visits, 95,000 hospital admi ssions, 7,000 deaths, and 29,000 permanent disabilities; hospital care cost s alone exceed $1 billion annually. The majority of patients have minor hea d trauma, and, although most of these injuries are insignificant, minor hea d trauma causes a large number of intracranial injuries. The largest reduct ion in head trauma mortality rates results from preventing deterioration an d secondary brain injury in patients with minor or moderate head injuries w ho initially appear to be at low risk. The goal of the clinician, therefore , is to identify those at risk for intracranial injury and subsequent deter ioration, while limiting unnecessary imaging procedures. This article revie ws the current data and practice in assessing and treating minor head traum a in children.