Abstract
Aim: To evaluate the utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), persistent post-concussive syndrome (PPCS), and normal neurologic examination.Materials and methods: This was a retrospective review of pediatric patients, who were evaluated in a Pediatric Concussion Clinic between August 2013 and November 2018, with documented persistent post-concussive symptoms, normal neurological examination, and available brain MRI.Results: In our analysis of 86 cases we found seven MRI studies with abnormal findings, but none were clinically significant.Conclusion: We conclude that MRI has a low diagnostic yield in this population, and based on these results we recommend that clinicians should avoid ordering MRI studies in this group. Further research is necessary to validate these results in larger and prospective studies.
Highlights
Materials and methods: This was a retrospective review of pediatric patients, who were evaluated in a Pediatric Concussion Clinic between August 2013 and November 2018, with documented persistent postconcussive symptoms, normal neurological examination, and available brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
We conclude that MRI has a low diagnostic yield in this population, and based on these results we recommend that clinicians should avoid ordering MRI studies in this group
The aim of this study was to demonstrate the utility of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in children with mild traumatic brain injury and persistent post-concussive syndrome (>28 days) but with a normal neurological examination
Summary
The aim of this study was to demonstrate the utility of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in children (aged 2–18 years) with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and persistent post-concussive syndrome (>28 days) but with a normal neurological examination. We seek to identify abnormal brain imaging in these patients to assess the utility of neurological imaging in this group. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of hospital visits in the United States. In the last study cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2013, there were approximately 640,000 TBI-related emergency department (ED) visits, 18,000 TBI-related hospitalizations, and 1,500 TBIrelated deaths in children aged 0–14 years in the USA [1]. In 2012, approximately 325,000 ED visits resulted from sports and recreation-related mTBI [2]. Among the pediatric population with mTBI, 82% initially visited primary care, 5% searched for specialty care, and 12% were assisted at the ED [3,4]
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