title: Prehospital Imaging-Based Triage of Head Trauma with a Mobile Stroke Unit: First Evidence and Literature Review.
abstract: An ambulance equipped with a computed tomography (CT) scanner, point-of-care laboratory, and telemedicine capabilities (Mobile Stroke Unit [MSU]) has been shown to enable delivery of thrombolysis to stroke patients at the emergency site, thereby significantly decreasing time to treatment. However, the MSU frequently assesses patients with cerebral disorders other than stroke. For some of these disorders, prehospital CT scanning may also be beneficial.
  
  
  
  Our institution manages a program investigating prehospital stroke treatment of patients with neurological emergencies. We assessed a patient with head trauma for whom prehospital CT scanning and laboratory tests allowed cause-based triage to the most appropriate hospital. We examined implications of this case for clinical practice in light of a literature review.
  
  
  
  The MSU was dispatched to assess a 74-year-old woman with suspected head trauma or stroke, found lying on the floor with a left frontal laceration. Her Glasgow Coma Scale score was 13, apart from drowsiness she exhibited no neurologic deficit. A CT scan ruled out intracranial hemorrhage and skull fracture. On the basis of these prehospital diagnostic findings, the patient was taken to the nearest primary care hospital rather than to a trauma center with neurosurgery facilities.
  
  
  
  Patients with neurologic disorders other than stroke, such as traumatic brain injury, may also benefit from prehospital CT studies. This case report and the results of our analysis of the literature support the potential benefit of prehospital imaging in correctly triaging patients with suspected traumatic brain injury to the appropriate target hospital.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schwindling
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ragoschke-Schumm
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kettner
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Helwig
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manitz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroradiology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roumia
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lesmeister
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Department, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, Essex, UK.
authors.forename: I Q
authors.initials: IQ
authors.lastname: Grunwald
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fassbender
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008952:Mobile Health Units; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D017216:Telemedicine; D015898:Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014218:Triage
keywords: Computed tomography; head trauma; traumatic brain injury; triage