Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40205471›Full record

ArticleJournal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care2025

Pediatric head trauma algorithm for head CT decision-making in the emergency department.

Gabriele Savioli, Iride Francesca Ceresa, Andrea Piccioni, Yaroslava Longhitano, Raymond Planinsic, Michele Dorfsman, Antonio Voza, Federica Manzoni, Giorgia Caputo, Abdelouahab Bellou and 2 more

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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Gabriele SavioliDepartment of Emergency Medicine, IRCCS Polyclinic San Matteo, Pavia, Italia.
Iride Francesca CeresaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Public Hospital, Vigevano, Italia.
Andrea PiccioniDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Foundation Agostino Gemelli Hospital, UCSC, Rome, Italy.
Yaroslava LonghitanoDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Raymond PlaninsicDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Michele DorfsmanDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Antonio VozaDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medicine Residency Program-Humanitas University Hospital, Rozzano, Italy.
Federica ManzoniHealth Promotion-Environmental Epidemiology Unit, Hygiene and Health Prevention Department, Health Protection Agency, Pavia, Italy.
Giorgia CaputoDepartment of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, San Luigi Gonzaga Hospital, Turin, Orbassano, Italy.
Abdelouahab BellouInstitute of Sciences in Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, China.
Luigi La Via *Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, University Hospital Policlinico "G. Rodolico-San Marco", Catania, Italy. Luigilavia7@gmail.com.
Christian Zanza *Geriatric Medicine Residency Program, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTraumatic brain injury is a common cause of admission in Emergency Department (ED) for pediatric patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the application of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) traumatic brain injury (TBI) algorithm in ED for head CT decision-making in pediatric patients. The secondary objective was to evaluate the impact of adherence to this protocol on ED crowding, length of stay, and boarding time.

methodsWe conducted a retrospective study including children aged ≤ 15 years who were admitted in a level 2 trauma center ED for mild TBI from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2019. Collected data included amnesia, symptoms, demographics, outcomes, length of ED stay, the patient's outcomes, including intracranial injuries (ICI) and injuries requiring neurosurgery.

resultsA total of 1372 children with mild TBI were included. More than half of the patients were male (59.8%) and ≥ 2 years of age (63.2%). Most of the trauma events (58%) were caused by home injury. Neurosurgical consultation (59.4%) was the most common intervention in the ED. Only 4.3% of patients required neuroimaging and 7 children had intracranial hemorrhage, with only 1 requiring immediate neurosurgical intervention. There were no re-admissions for bleeding. The adoption of this protocol had no negative impact on crowding, and a reduction of ED length of stay.

conclusionsThe adoption of the PECARNE algorithm led to fewer brain computed tomography scans with good clinical outcomes without increasing crowding.

Indexed as

Clinical decision rulesComputed tomographyEmergency department crowdingNeuroimaging protocolsPECARN algorithmPediatric head trauma

Identifiers

PMID40205471
PMCPMC11983826

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.