Özet:

Objectives: This study analyzed the epidemiology of adult cases with minor head trauma in order to identify the high risk groups for scanning by cranial computed tomography (CT). Patients and Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study. This included 450 patients who had been seen at our Emergency Clinic and had experienced a minor head trauma between January 2012 and March 2012. Results: One hundred and twenty six (28%) of the patients were women and 324 (72%) were men. The average age was 40.99±17.87 years. Leading trauma mechanisms were motor vehicle accidents, followed by falls and violence. Accidents not involving vehicles and violence were the most frequent causes for trauma in patients with a skull fracture; falls from a height were the most common cause in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Cranial CT scans were performed in 73.6% (n=331) of the cases. Among CT scans, 13% were interpreted as abnormal. The most frequent abnormal CT findings included linear fracture (34.9%), subdural hematoma (25.6%) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (16.3%). Conclusion: The Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score of 14, vomiting more than 3 times and scalp laceration were predictors for a high risk of an abnormal cranial CT. There was no statistically significant relationship between an abnormal CT scan and gender, cause of trauma, complaints at presentation other than vomiting more than 3 times, physical examination findings other than scalp laceration, alcohol or anticoagulant use

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