• Saleh A Almenawer, Iulia Bogza, Blake Yarascavitch, Niv Sne, Forough Farrokhyar, Naresh Murty, and Kesava Reddy.
• Division of Neurosurgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Dr_menawer@hotmail.com
• Neurosurgery. 2013 Jan 1;72(1):56-62; discussion 63-4.

BackgroundAfter an initial computed tomography (CT) scan revealing intracranial hemorrhage resulting from traumatic brain injury, a standard of care in many trauma centers is to schedule a repeat CT scan to rule out possible progression of bleed.ObjectiveTo evaluate the utility of routine follow-up CT in changing the management of mild head injury patients despite clinical stability, although repeat imaging is indicated to assess a deteriorating patient.MethodsThe trauma database at our institution was retrospectively reviewed and the literature was searched to identify patients after mild head injury with positive initial CT finding and scheduled repeat scan. Patients were divided into 2 groups for comparison. Group A included patients who had intervention based on neurological examination changes. Group B comprised patients requiring a change in management according to CT results exclusively. The meta-analysis of the present cohort and included articles was performed with a random-effects model.ResultsOverall, 15 studies and 445 patients met our eligibility criteria, totaling 2693 patients. Intervention rates of groups A and B were 2.7% (95% confidence interval, 1.7-3.9; P = .003) and 0.6% (95% confidence interval, 0.3-1; P = .21), respectively. The statistical difference between both intervention rates was clinically significant with P < .001.ConclusionThe available evidence indicates that it is unnecessary to schedule a repeat CT scan after mild head injury when patients are unchanged or improving neurologically. In the absence of supporting data, we question the value of routine follow-up imaging given the associated accumulative increase in cost and risks.

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