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Minor head injuries in adults: a review of current guidelines

Department of Emergency Medicine, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK

DW Jenkins

Department of Emergency Medicine, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK

J Dunning

Royal College of Surgeons of England, London, UK, johnbatchelor{at}msn.com

A plethora of minor head injury guidelines have been published in the last few years. The aim of many of these guidelines has been either to subcategorize groups of patients with minor head injuries, or to identify clinical risk factors for an abnormal head computed tomography (CT) scan in patients with a minor head injury. The original definition of minor head injury was a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) of 13- 15. This has now been superseded by a more narrow definition of patients with a GCS of 15 only. A variety of clinical correlates have been identified that enable GCS 15 patients to be subcategorized into high or low risk for an abnormal head CT. This article aims to review the commonly used clinical correlates that appear in many minor head injury guidelines. The current, most widely used minor head injury guidelines are discussed.

Key Words: adult • guidelines • minor head injury • review • tomography • X-ray computed

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