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CT images of the head are used to investigate and diagnose brain injuries and other neurological conditions, as well as other conditions involving the skull or sinuses; it used to guide some brain surgery procedures as well. [2] CT scans expose the person getting them to ionizing radiation which has a risk of eventually causing cancer; some ...
did not experience a traumatic brain injury; have a Glasgow Coma Scale score of lower than 13, are under the age of 16, has a bleeding disorder or is using warfarin, and/or; has a visible open skull fracture. [4] Under the CCTHR, patients with minor head injuries should only receive CT scans if one or more of the following criteria are met: [4]
Of the CT scans, six to eleven percent are done in children, [168] an increase of seven to eightfold from 1980. [167] Similar increases have been seen in Europe and Asia. [167] In Calgary, Canada, 12.1% of people who present to the emergency with an urgent complaint received a CT scan, most commonly either of the head or of the abdomen.
A CT scan can be performed in under a second and produce rapid results for clinicians, with its ease of use leading to an increase in CT scans performed in the United States from 3 million in 1980 to 62 million in 2007. Clinicians oftentimes take multiple scans, with 30% of individuals undergoing at least 3 scans in one study of CT scan usage. [36]
Computed tomography of the head, without intravenous contrast, here presented in the sagittal plane with 4 mm slice thickness. It shows normal anatomy, with no injuries. The subject is an 18 year old male who had blunt trauma to the head after a 25 m long jump during motocross.
The modality of choice is computed tomography (CT scan), without contrast, of the brain. This has a high sensitivity and will correctly identify 98.7% of cases within six hours of the onset of symptoms. [31] A CT scan can rule out the diagnosis in someone with a normal neurological exam if done within six hours. [32]
A CT pulmonary angiogram, in this case showing pulmonary embolism of saddle-type, which becomes more radiolucent than the radiocontrast filled blood surrounding it (but it may be indistinguishable without radiocontrast). Contrast CT, or contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT), is X-ray computed tomography (CT) using radiocontrast.
Yet, CT scan is the best alternative for diagnosing intra-abdominal injury in children. [13] For acute abdominal pain in adults, an abdominal X-ray has a low sensitivity and accuracy in general. Computed tomography provides an overall better surgical strategy planning, and possibly less unnecessary laparotomies.