Computed Tomography Utilization in the Management of Children with Mild Head Trauma

This study demonstrates the trend of computed tomography (CT) usage for children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in the context of the initiation of the Safe CT Imaging Collaborative Initiative to promote the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) rules at the acute care hospitals in New Jersey. We used administrative databases of 10 children’s and 59 general hospitals to compare CT rates before 2014–2015, during 2016, and after the initiation of the program (2017–2019). The CT usage rates at baseline and the end of surveillance in children’s hospitals (19.2% and 14.2%) were lower than in general hospitals (36.7% and 21.0%), p < 0.0001. The absolute mean difference from baseline to the end of surveillance in children’s hospitals was 5.1% compared to a high of 9.7% in general hospitals, medium-high with 13.2%, and 14.0% in a medium volume of pediatric patients (p < 0.001–0.0001). The time-series model demonstrates a positive trend of CT reduction in pediatric patients with mTBI within four years of the program’s implementation (p < 0.03–0.001). The primary CT reduction was recorded during the year of program implementation. Regression analysis revealed the significant role of a baseline CT usage rate in predicting the level of CT reduction independent of the volume of pediatric patients and type of hospital.