Minor head trauma in anticoagulated patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of clinically significant intracranial injury in the anticoagulated patient suffering minor head trauma without loss of consciousness (LOC) or acute neurologic abnormality.
METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed based on a computerized search of electronic patient records from six community hospital EDs, one of which is a trauma center. Patients taking warfarin who sustained minor head trauma without LOC having no acute neurologic abnormalities treated from January 1994 to January 1996 were identified using a search of electronic ED records. Charts were reviewed for mechanism of injury, physical examination findings of head injury, and concomitant injury. Prothrombin time and head CT results were recorded if obtained. For those patients not receiving a head CT on ED evaluation, telephone follow-up was performed to determine outcome.
RESULTS: There were 65 patients meeting inclusion criteria. Thirty-eight patients had prothrombin times obtained, with ranges from 12.0 sec to 30.7 sec. There was no intracranial injury found in any of the 39 patients having a head CT. Additionally, follow-up on the 26 patients who did not undergo CT scanning revealed no evidence of complications related to their head injuries.
CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of clinically significant intracranial injury is extremely low in the anticoagulated patient suffering minor blunt head trauma without LOC or acute neurologic abnormality. CT scanning may not be necessary in these patients. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.