Animated Picture to Improve Provider Adherence to CT Scan for Head Injury Rule

It is difficult for Pediatric Emergency Department providers to recognize clinically significant head injuries that are likely to require neurosurgical intervention or close monitoring from those that can be safely discharged.

Research Question How do a combination of education and an animated picture depicting the PECARN CT Head Injury rules impact compliance to these rules and reduce unnecessary head CT scans?

Design This is a within subject, repeated measures study design.

Completed

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Key information

Conditions

Minor Head Injury Craniocerebral Trauma Disease Attributes Emergencies Nervous System Diseases Pathologic Processes Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Trauma, Nervous System Wounds and Injuries

Age range

Up to 18 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Patients presenting to Children's ED will be included if they:
Are between 0 and 18 years of age (inclusive)
Receive a discharge diagnosis of head injury
Present to the ED within 24 hours of the head injury
GCS of 14 or greater

Exclusion criteria

Patients will be excluded if they :
Had a CT scans done in an outside transferring institution
Have obvious penetrating head injuries
Had a trivial injury mechanisms such as ground-level falls or walking or running into stationary objects
Have no signs or symptoms of head trauma other than scalp abrasions and lacerations.
Have known brain tumors, pre-existing neurological disorders complicating assessment, ventricular shunts, bleeding disorders

Treatment and study plan

Pop-up picture

Behavioral

An animated picture depicting the key elements of the PECARN CT scan head injury rules will be explained. The picture will "pop-up" when a provider selects the order set for a CT scan due to head injury. Providers will need to select a box stating the patient either "meets criteria" or "does not meet criteria" in order to close the animated picture window.

Primary outcomes

Compliance to the PECARN CT Scan Head Injury rules

Time frame: 3 months

Secondary outcomes

Decreased rate of CT scans

Time frame: 3 months

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start: 2012
Primary completion: 2013
Study completion: 2013
First posted: Jan 20, 2012
Registry last updated: Jul 31, 2013

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed