A new study shows that many of the high radiation CT scans that are done on children who had hit their heads are unnecessary, according to The New York Times. The study was recently published in The Lancet Journal and looked at 42,412 children ages 18 and younger who were seen in emergency rooms after suffering mild head injuries, said the article. Of those children, only 5% of the CT scans picked up traumatic brain injuries, according to the Times.
According to The Lancet CT imaging of head-injured children has risks of radiation-induced malignancy, and the purpose of the study was to make sure there were guidelines doctors could follow to determine which children to conduct the scans. The paper in the Lancet offered six indicators to help doctors determine whether a child was at risk for a serious brain injury, and had a separate list of indicators for children under age two, according to the Times.
Among these indicators are:
Altered mental state
Signs of a skull fracture
Loss of consciousness
Involved in a serious incident like a car crash
Vomiting
Headaches
Swelling of the scalp
Abnormal behavior
