Clinical use and indications for head computed tomography in children presenting with acute medical illness in a low- and middle-income setting.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Computed tomography (CT) imaging is an indispensable tool in the management of acute paediatric neurological illness providing rapid answers that facilitate timely decisions and interventions that may be lifesaving. While clear guidelines exist for use of CT in trauma to maximise individual benefits against the risk of radiation exposure and the cost to the healthcare system, the same is not the case for medical emergency.

Aims

The study primarily aimed to retrospectively describe indications for non-trauma head CT and the findings at a tertiary paediatric hospital.

Methods

Records of children presenting with acute illness to the medical emergency unit of Red Cross War Children's Hospital, Cape Town, over one year (2013) were retrospectively reviewed. Parti

SUBMITTER: Machingaidze PR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7521723 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature