Validation externe des critères de gravité du saignement intracrânien chez les patients avec un traumatisme crâniocérébral léger
Background: There is variability in the management of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and abnormal findings on their initial head computed tomography (CT). The main objective of this study was to validate the value of the Important Brain Injury (IBI) criteria, introduced by the Canadian CT-Head Rule, in predicting the need for surgical intervention. The secondary objective was to evaluate the usefulness of IBI criteria to predict admission to a tertiary care hospital. Methods: This is a post hoc analysis of a prospective cohort of adult patients presenting to the ED of one tertiary care, academic center, between 2008 and 2012, with MTBI and an abnormal initial head CT. Neurosurgical intervention and tertiary center admission were at the discretion of the treating physician. The sensitivity and specificity of the IBI criteria were calculated with their 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Results: A total of 678 patients (male = 65.9%, mean age = 62.5 years) were included, of whom 114 (16.8%) required neurosurgical intervention. All patients requiring neurosurgical intervention met IBI criteria on their initial head CT (sensitivity of 100% [95%CI 96.8-100]). However, only 196 (28.9%) patients who did not require neurosurgical intervention were correctly identified using these criteria (specificity of 34.8% [95%CI 30.8-38.8]). The IBI criteria had sensitivity of 78.3% (CI 74.6-81.7) and specificity of 55.9% (CI 47.4-64.2) to predict admission to a tertiary care center. Conclusion: The IBI criteria for MTBI identified all patients who required neurosurgical intervention, but did not show a high specificity. They were less sensitive, but more specific, in predicting admission to a tertiary care center.
validation mild traumatic brain injury guidelines management neurosurgical intervention head computed tomography validation