CT scan findings in mild head trauma: a series of 2,000 patients Achados tomográficos no trauma cranioencefálico leve: análise de 2000 casos
DOI: 10.1590/S0004-282X2002000200004
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Summary
This study investigates the epidemiological profile and cranial computed tomography (CT) scan findings in 2,000 patients with mild head trauma (HT) in Curitiba, Southern Brazil. Motivated by the high mortality and morbidity associated with trauma, particularly in young adults, the research aims to characterize the causes, demographic distribution, and frequency of intracranial lesions in mild HT cases to evaluate the utility of routine CT scanning. The researchers conducted a prospective study from September 1996 to June 1999, analyzing the first CT scan performed on patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 13–15 treated at two referral hospitals. The cohort had a mean age of 30.8 years and a male-to-female ratio of 2:1. Data collection included patient demographics, mechanism of injury, alcohol intoxication status, and specific CT findings categorized as trauma-related or incidental. The results indicated that interpersonal aggression (17.9%), falls (17.4%), and automobile accidents (16.2%) were the leading causes of injury. Alcohol intoxication was present in 7.9% of cases, showing a strong association with falls to the ground and aggression. Of the total cohort, 60.75% had normal CT scans, while 39.25% showed abnormalities. Among the 785 abnormal scans, 65.9% (518 patients) contained lesions directly related to the trauma. The most common trauma-related findings were soft tissue swelling (8.9%), skull fractures (4.3%), intracranial hematomas (3.4%), and subgaleal hematomas (2.4%). The remaining 34.1% of abnormal scans revealed incidental findings unrelated to the acute injury, such as brain atrophy (5.9%), calcifications (7.6%), and ischemic infarcts (1.9%). The study concludes that CT scanning is a valuable diagnostic tool in mild head trauma, revealing significant intracranial pathology in over a quarter of patients. The high prevalence of aggression as a cause of injury suggests socioeconomic factors influence local trauma patterns. While the findings support the clinical utility of CT in this population, the authors emphasize the need for further research to identify specific clinical markers that predict significant brain injury, thereby optimizing the selective use of CT scans to reduce unnecessary exposure and costs.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | DOAJ | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| archive | success | unpaywall | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
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| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-19 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
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