Validation of the scandinavian guidelines for initial management of minor and moderate head trauma in children.

backgroundHead trauma in children is common, with a low rate of clinically important traumatic brain injury. CT scan is the reference standard for diagnosis of traumatic brain injury, of which the increasing use is alarming because of the risk of induction of lethal malignancies. Recently, the Scandinavian Neurotrauma Committee derived new guidelines for the initial management of minor and moderate head trauma. Our aim was to validate these guidelines.

methodsWe applied the guidelines to a population consisting of children with mild and moderate head trauma, enrolled in the study: "Identification of children at very low risk of clinically-important brain injuries after head trauma: a prospective cohort study" by Kuppermann et al. (Lancet 374(9696):1160-1170, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61558-0 , 2009). We calculated the negative predictive values of the guidelines to assess their ability to distinguish children without clinically-important traumatic brain injuries and traumatic brain injuries on CT scans, for whom CT could be omitted.

resultsWe analysed a population of 43,025 children. For clinically-important brain injuries among children with minimal head injuries, the negative predictive value was 99.8% and the rate was 0.15%. For traumatic findings on CT, the negative predictive value was 96.9%. Traumatic finding on CT was detected in 3.1% of children with minimal head injuries who underwent a CT examination, which accounts for 0.45% of all children in this group.

conclusionChildren with minimal head injuries can be safely discharged with oral and written instructions. Use of the SNC-G will potentially reduce the use of CT.