Blood tests to help diagnose brain injuries
(KYMA, KECY/CNN) - Researchers give a tip on how to detect brain injuries even if you feel there's a minor injury or a concussion while avoiding a CT Scan.
Doctors determine if a CT Scan is needed by the use of a blood test.
"Ten percent of these patients, actually have a significant injury on their CT scan, so it's important for us to find those ten percent and make sure we get a cat scan on them so they can be treated promptly," said Emergency Medicine Doctor Linda Papa.
A CT Scan is one of the easiest ways to determine if there's a brain injury but it could also lead to radiation exposure.
"That blood test would help us make that decision and say the blood test, the value is very low, that means that patient likely does not have a significant brain injury and we can forego the cat scan," explained Dr. Papa.
Children are vulnerable to radiation with these scans so they're to be avoided as much as possible.
The CDC says about 15% of U.S. high school students suffered from a concussion in 2019.
Dr. Linda Papa, Study's Lead Author, Emergency Medicine, Orlando Health/"As children grow, you don't want to expose them to unnecessary ionizing radiation because they're growing their cells are changing," continued Dr. Papa.
