Prevalence of Pathological Lesion Due to Mild Head Trauma in Computed Tomography Scan of Patients’ Brains

Abstract

Background and aims: This study investigated the prevalence of pathological lesions on the computed tomography (CT) scans of the brains of patients with mild head trauma based on the New Orleans-Canadian criteria at Shahrekord Ayatollah Kashani Hospital, Iran. Methods: All patients referred to the Emergency Department of Shahrekord Ayatollah Kashani Hospital in 2019 with a history of head trauma were included in this cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study according to the criteria of mild head trauma. Then, the relevant checklist was used to record the patients’ level of consciousness, demographic information, and cause of trauma. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS 18, and the patient’s lesions were reported accordingly. Results: Out of 143 patients, 89 were males, and 54 were females in this study. Falling from a height was the cause of head trauma in most patients (43.3%). Among all patients, the CT scans of six patients were abnormal and had lesions. The vomiting had a significant relationship with the results of the CT scan, and for patients with mild head trauma, the Canadian and New Orleans indices had the same clinical importance. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, the New Orleans index could identify more patients as CT scan candidates than the Canadian index; however, there was no difference in the final result (the presence of a pathological lesion in the CT scan) between these two indices. The New Orleans index has more features than the Canadian index, but its results are not different from the Canadian index. Thus, we believe that using the Canadian index can reduce imaging rates, costs, and protection from the side effects of radiation.