None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
When someone has a knock to the head they may induce a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). Emergency department (ED) doctors assess if this is likely and may order a head CT scan to look for any damage. Most of these scans are negative (no damage). However, there use means extended stays in the ED for patients and this contributes to overcrowding. Recently the FDA approved a blood test that can determine that some people are at very low risk of having damage seen on a CT. In theory, this could mean less scans and shorter ED stays for many people. We are testing this device by checking that the numbers produced can be consistently produced without error and that in the New Zealand ED population it accurately predict a good proportion of patients as being low-risk for damage on a CT.
Interventions
During an emergency department (ED) visit patients identified as having mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) and whom the attending physician has ordered a computerised tomography (CT) head scan will be consented to allow data collection and a single blood draw. They will then have blood drawn. The i-STAT TBI POC test will measure the concentrations of two biomarkers, UCH-L1 and GFAP. The test will not be used in clinical practice, the results will not be known to attending physicians. Particip
During an emergency department (ED) visit patients identified as having mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) and whom the attending physician has ordered a computerised tomography (CT) head scan will be consented to allow data collection and a single blood draw. They will then have blood drawn. The i-STAT TBI POC test will measure the concentrations of two biomarkers, UCH-L1 and GFAP. The test will not be used in clinical practice, the results will not be known to attending physicians. Participation ends after discharge from ED.
Sponsors
Emergency Care Foundation
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
• Adults>= 18 years of age. • Presenting within 24 hours of suspected mild or moderate TBI. • Attending physician’s initial judgment is the need for a head CT. • Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) on arrival in the ED 13-15
Exclusion criteria
• Patients presenting >24 hours of suspected injury or with an unknown time of onset predicted to be >24 hours • GCS <13 • Pre-existing brain injury at time of presentation, such as recent TBI or recent stroke • Pre-existing neurological condition such as dementia, acute psychosis, motor neurone disease, multiple-sclerosis, learning difficulties • Unable for them or their guardian to give verbal consent • Clinician perceived need to do an immediate CT irrespective of biomarker results because of red flags.
Outcome results
None listed