TY - JOUR T1 - PRevalence of clinically important traumatic brain injuries in children with minor blunt head trauma and isolated severe injury mechanisms AU - Nigrovic LE, Lee LK, Hoyle J, et al Y1 - 2012/04/01 N1 - 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.1156 JO - Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine SP - 356 EP - 361 VL - 166 IS - 4 N2 - Objective  To determine the prevalence of clinically important traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) with severe injury mechanisms in children with minor blunt head trauma but with no other risk factors from the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) TBI prediction rules (defined as isolated severe injury mechanisms).Design  Secondary analysis of a large prospective observational cohort study.Setting  Twenty-five emergency departments participating in the PECARN.Patients  Children with minor blunt head trauma and Glasgow Coma Scale scores of at least 14.Intervention  Treating clinicians completed a structured data form that included injury mechanism (severity categories defined a priori).Main Outcome Measures  Clinically important TBIs were defined as intracranial injuries resulting in death, neurosurgical intervention, intubation for more than 24 hours, or hospital admission for at least 2 nights. We investigated the rate of clinically important TBIs in children with either severe injury mechanisms or isolated severe injury mechanisms.Results  Of the 42 412 patients enrolled in the overall study, 42 099 (99%) had injury mechanisms recorded, and their data were included for analysis. Of all study patients, 5869 (14%) had severe injury mechanisms, and 3302 (8%) had isolated severe injury mechanisms. Overall, 367 children had clinically important TBIs (0.9%; 95% CI, 0.8%-1.0%). Of the 1327 children younger than 2 years with isolated severe injury mechanisms, 4 (0.3%; 95% CI, 0.1%-0.8%) had clinically important TBIs, as did 12 of the 1975 children 2 years or older (0.6%; 95% CI, 0.3%-1.1%).Conclusion  Children with isolated severe injury mechanisms are at low risk of clinically important TBI, and many do not require emergent neuroimaging. SN - 1072-4710 M3 - doi: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.1156 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.1156 ER -