Acute Concussion Management in Emergency Medicine: A Feasability Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Acute Concussion Management in Emergency Medicine: A Feasibility Study
IRAS ID
287598
Contact name
David J Lowe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 2 days
Research summary
Concussion (mild traumatic brain injury) is a common injury presenting to the Emergency Department (ED), with over 1.4 million patients annually attending emergency departments (EDs) in the UK following head injury, of which 95% have a normal or mildly impaired conscious level at presentation. At present, diagnosing concussion is challenging as assessment relies primarily on there being no evidence of more severe TBI (negative CT scan) and patient reporting of typically heterogeneous symptoms, which may emerge hours or even days after injury. While a majority of patients with concussion will recover within 10-14days with conservative management, around 10-15% of individuals develop persisting, complex symptoms as post-concussion syndrome (PCS).
The rationale for this study is that if a group exists whose concussion symptoms evolve post-discharge they may benefit from further review and follow up. At present these patients are not identified by current practice
This study is a feasibility, single centre, open, controlled study to identify post-discharge symptom profiles in mild traumatic brain injury patients presenting to the Emergency Department. Study participant will be identified as aged 16-65 years old presenting within 12h of an isolated traumatic head injury and who have undergone a clinically indicated CT scan of head, or head and c-spine, which has shown no acute findings
The control group will be patients presenting within 12h of a non-head related trauma.
Outcomes will be assessed using existing, standardised screening questionnaires prior to discharge from ED, at 48-72h after the injury and at 28 days after the injury.REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
21/NS/0129
Date of REC Opinion
4 Nov 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion