Dr. Rahim Valani and Dr. Jennifer Riley discuss their approach to the workup and management of both minor and major Pediatric Head Injury. They review two recent landmark studies (PECARN & CATCH studies) describing clinical decision rules for performing CT head in minor pediatric head injury, as well as practical tips on instructing parents regarding return to sport activities after discharge. In major pediatric head injury, they discuss key clinical pearls on managing blood pressure, the use of hypertonic saline and managing raised intracranial pressure in the treatment of major head injury.
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Written Summary and blog post by Lucas Chartier, edited by Anton Helman March 2010
Cite this podcast as: Valani, R, Riley, J, Helman, A. Pediatric Head Injury. Emergency Medicine Cases. March, 2010. https://emergencymedicinecases.com/episode-3-pediatric-head-injury/. Accessed [date].
Canadian Pediatric Society’s classification of pediatric head injury
- Mild: GCS of 15 and asymptomatic or with mild headache, ≤3 episodes of vomiting, and loss of consciousness
- Moderate: GCS of 11-14, loss of consciousness ≥5 minutes, progressive headache or lethargy, >3 episodes of vomiting, post-traumatic amnesia or seizure, serious facial injury or signs of basilar skull fracture, multiple trauma, possible penetrating injury or depressed skull fracture, or suspected child abuse
- Severe: GCS ≤10 or declining by 2 points without clear cause, focal neurologic signs, penetrating skull injury, palpable depressed skull fracture, or compound skull fracture
Kupperman PECARN vs CATCH study: CT or not in pediatric head injury?
PECARN – NO CT HEAD RECOMMENDED for low-risk criteria for clinically-important traumatic brain injury: (<0.05% of death, neurosurgery, intubation for 24hrs or admission for 48hrs due to traumatic brain injury on CT scan):
- Patient less than 2y.o.: Normal mental status, no scalp hematoma except frontal, no loss of consciousness > 5 seconds, no palpable skull fracture, AND non-severe mechanism
- Patient more than 2y.o.: Normal mental status, no loss of consciousness, no vomiting, no signs of basilar skull fracture, no severe headache, non-severe mechanism
- Definition of severe mechanism: MVA with ejection, death of other passenger or roll-over, pedestrian or cyclist without helmet struck by car, fall >5feet if patient >2y.o. or fall >3feet if patient <2y.o., or head struck by high-impact object
Osmond et al. Canadian Assessment of Tomography for Childhood Injury. CMAJ 2010;182(4):341-8
NO CT HEAD REQUIRED for low-risk criteria: no high-risk AND no medium-risk factors present:
- Four “high-risk” factors (which are 100% sensitive for the need for neurologic intervention):
- failure to reach GCS of 15 within 2hrs
- suspicion of open skull fracture
- worsening headache
- irritability
- Three “medium-risk” factors (which are 98.1% sensitive for prediction of brain injury on CT scan)
- large, boggy hematoma on scalp
- signs of basal skull fracture
- dangerous mechanism (MVC, fall from elevation > 3 feet or 5 stairs, fall from bicycle with no helmet)
Differences between Kuppermann PECARN and CATCH studies
- CATCH study recruited sicker patients (GCS of 13-15 vs. 14-15), but has not been validated yet (as opposed to Kuppermann’s)
- Kuppermann study might validate what astute clinicians already do, whereas CATCH study might change practice, as sicker patients fulfilling certain criteria could avoid CT scan
- BOTH studies are only guides and are not absolute, and they DO NOT claim that if a patient does not fill ALL the criteria he/she necessarily needs a CT scan
Update 2018: A planned secondary analysis of the NEXUS Head CT decision instrument (“NEXUS II”) was completed involving 1,018 blunt head injury pediatric patients according to 7 risk-stratifying criteria. While 100% sensitivity was observed for 27/27 patients deemed “high risk” and requiring neurosurgical intervention, a specificity of 33% was seen in 330/991 patients assessed as “low risk”.Abstract
Update 2018: CATCH was updated to CATCH2 in a CMAJ study of more than 4000 patients which included 4 or more episodes of vomiting and found 100% sensitivity for neurosurgical intervention. CATCH2 requires further validation in an implementation study Abstract
Update 2018: A systematic review conducted by the CDC developed guidelines to diagnose and manage pediatric mild TBI, and help identify features associated with more serious TBI-associated intracranial injury, delayed recovery from mTBI and long-term sequelae. Abstract
Update 2019: An emergency department QI initiative to decrease cranial CT for children with minor head injuries provided the following imaging guidance using prior PECARN TBI risk factors: i) Any high-risk or 3 or more intermediate factors – perform CT; ii) 1-2 factors – observe; iii) No factors – discharge. Abstract
Role of skull x-ray for patients under one year old
Controversial: although there is an association between skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhage, the sensitivity is not great even with seasoned clinicians reading them; it could be considered when a hematoma is present but CT scan is not indicated
POCUS for pediatric skull fractures on the EDE Blog
Return to sport after pediatric minor head injury
- Variety of guidelines exist, but every athlete needs an individual approach to prevent 2nd-impact syndrome
- Suggestions include to stay off activities until 1 week after resolution of post- concussive symptoms (headache, amnesia, dizziness), and then to use a step-wise approach: mild exertion to increase HR, sport-related activity with no contact, progressive return to full practice, then return to game situations – if symptoms develop at any of these stages, go back to the previous stage and consult the primary care giver of the patient
Discharge instructions after pediatric minor head injury
- First 6 hours is the “red zone”, then 24hrs is the “yellow zone”
- Waking up patient q2hrs is probably not necessary (and if the clinician believes the patient to be high-risk, he/she should be kept in the department longer)
- Partially waking up the patient once during the night to assure reasonable behaviour might be reasonable, especially if in the “red zone” time
For an evidence-based analysis on the best clinical decision rule, significance of isolated loss of conciousness and whether strict bed rest is required after minor head injury go to BEEM Cases 1 – Pediatric Minor Head Injury
Pediatric Major head injury
- Consider pre-medication of fentanyl or lidocaine as part of rapid-sequence intubation (RSI) algorithm to blunt the body’s sympathetic response to intubation, which results in increased intracranial pressure (ICP) – these medications need to be given a full 2 minutes before intubation to be effective, therefore not suitable in ‘crash’ intubation
- Induction agent should aim at preventing drop in blood pressure given that CPP = MAP – ICP [cerebral perfusion pressure equals mean arterial pressure minus ICP]
- Etomidate probably remains the best agent given that there is not enough data as of yet on Ketamine (which offers neuroprotective effect but raises ICP)
- Clinical clues of increased ICP: worsening headache, visual or neurologic complaints, persistent vomiting, as well as abnormal pupillary reflexes, decreasing level of awareness, lateralizing features, Cushing’s triad
- Methods of decreasing ICP: elevation of head of bed 30 degrees, medications to cause osmotic pull, and hyperventilation, which is only used as a temporizing measure in a patient who is coning (target pCO2 is 30-35mmHg)
- Mechnism of mannitol: decrease in blood viscosity, as well as osmotic pull to decrease brain swelling given that it does not cross the BBB (provided it is intact)
- Dose of medications:
- Mannitol: bolus of 0.25-1g/kg
- Hypertonic saline 3%NS (used when patient hypotensive because it has no osmotic diuretic effect): bolus of 2-6cc/kg, then infusion of 0.1-1cc/kg/hr
Dr. Valani, Dr. Helman and Dr. Riley have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Key References
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- Kuppermann et al. Identification of children at very low risk of clinically- important brain injuries after head trauma: a prospective cohort study. Lancet 2009;374(9696):1160-70 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19758692
- Management of children with head trauma. Emergency Paediatrics Section, Canadian Paediatric Society. CMAJ 1990;142(9):949-52 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2183919
- Osmond et al. Canadian Assessment of Tomography for Childhood Injury. CMAJ 2010;182(4):341-8 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831681/
For more on Paediatric Emergencies download our free interactice eBook EM Cases Digest Vol. 2 Pediatric Emergencies
For more on paediatric head injuries on EM cases:
Best Case Ever 55 Pediatric Cerebral Herniation
For more Pediatric EM learning visit trekk.ca – Translating Emergency Knowledge for Kids (TREKK) is a growing network of researchers, clinicians, health consumers and national organizations who want to accelerate the speed at which the latest knowledge in children’s emergency care is put into practice in general EDs – rural, remote or urban.
Now test your knowledge with a quiz.
Update:
Any chance you have had the chance to see this Prospective Cohort Study for the CDRs?
Update!
Accuracy of PECARN, CATCH, and CHALICE head injury decision rules in children: a prospective cohort study
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)30555-X/fulltext?rss%3Dyes
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Brad
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