Should We Look for Delayed Traumatic Intracranial Hemorrhage in Patients on Anticoagulants?

Among such patients with mild head trauma, a second CT scan was judged clinically unnecessary.

Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) is frequently defined as the combination of a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score ≥13, loss of consciousness for <30 minutes, and post-traumatic amnesia for <24 hours. In some patients, when the initial head computed tomography (CT) scan is normal, a second imaging study done after a period of observation reveals a delayed traumatic intracranial hemorrhage. The concern for delayed hemorrhage is heightened for patients taking oral anticoagulant medications.

These authors evaluated the utility of a second brain imaging study, performed after 48 hours of observation, in patients with mild TBI while on anticoagulants. They retrospectively examined the records of some 280 patients with a mean age of 79 years (65% wome…

Reviewing Author

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBayer Pharmaceuticals; Novartis

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Editorial BoardsNeurology; Stroke

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBayer Pharmaceuticals; Novartis

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Editorial BoardsNeurology; Stroke

Should We Look for Delayed Traumatic Intracranial Hemorrhage in Patients on Anticoagulants?

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Reviewing Author