Which Clinical Features of Children on Initial Presentation to the Emergency Department With Head Injury Are Associated With Clinically Important Traumatic Brain Injury, Classification as Abuse, and Poor Prognosis?

Background: Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) and abusive head trauma (AHT) are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Clinicians may not be aware of AHT at presentation to the emergency department (ED).

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine which clinical features associated with head injury in children on initial presentation to the ED trauma bay predict 3 outcomes including clinically important TBI (CiTBI), classification as confirmed abuse by Child Protection Team (CPT), and poor neurologic status on hospital discharge.