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Original research letter
Imaging the infant with a head injury: a single-centre retrospective study
  1. Daniel Braunold1,
  2. Hannah Lewis1,
  3. Breda O'Neill2,
  4. Naomi Edmonds3
  1. 1Anaesthesia, Barts and The London NHS Trust, London, UK
  2. 2Paediatric Anaesthesia, Royal London Hospital, London, UK
  3. 3Paediatric Intensive Care, Royal London Hospital, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Hannah Lewis; hannah.lewis{at}doctors.org.uk

Abstract

Head injury is the largest cause of mortality in paediatric trauma. Infants (<1 year old) are a high-risk group and vulnerable to non-accidental injury. A single-centre retrospective study at a major trauma centre collected data on infants presenting with a head injury over a 48-month period. 1127 infants presented with a head injury. 135 CT heads were performed. 38% of scans showed intracranial pathology. The decision about which infants to send for CT scans remains complex. Liberal use risks over-exposure to ionising radiation while restrictive use may miss subtler injuries.

  • child abuse
  • neuropathology
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2020-000779

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors All authors involved in data collection and the writing of the paper.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.