Physical injuries caused by a transient loss of consciousness: main clinical characteristics of patients and diagnostic contribution of carotid sinus massage.

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence and the characteristics of secondary trauma among patients referred to the emergency department (ED) for a transient loss of consciousness (TLOC).

Methods And Results: Over a 24 months period, all the patients referred to our ED for a TLOC were evaluated according to the ESC Guidelines on Syncope and enrolled in the study. Among 1253 consecutive patients with TLOC (1114 with a true syncope and 139 with a non-syncopal condition) 365 (29.