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Updated: Feb 17, 2026
Advanced Diffusion Imaging in The Hippocampus of Rats with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Published on: August 14, 2019
Mild brain injury and anticoagulants: Less is enough
Laura Campiglio1, Francesca Bianchi1, Claudio Cattalini1
1III Neurological Clinic, Department of Health Sciences (LC, FB, CC, DB, CER, CLC, MS, MCS, EB, AI, IC, CG, LR, GO, RP, AP), Neurology Unit (LC, FB, CC, DB, CER, CLC, MS, MCS, EB, AI, IC, CG, LR, GO, RP, AP), and Emergency Unit (MG), San Paolo University Hospital, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, Milan University; Research Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, University of Milan; and Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda (AP), Milan, Italy.
Background:
Despite the higher theoretical risk of traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in anticoagulated patients with mild head injury, the value of sequential head CT scans to identify bleeding remains controversial. This study evaluated the utility of 2 sequential CT scans at a 48-hour interval (CT1 and CT2) in patients with mild head trauma (Glasgow Coma Scale 13-15) taking oral anticoagulants.
Methods:
We retrospectively evaluated the clinical records of all patients on chronic anticoagulation treatment admitted to the emergency department for mild head injury.
Results:
A total of 344 patients were included, and 337 (97.9%) had a negative CT1. CT2 was performed on 284 of the 337 patients with a negative CT1 and was positive in 4 patients (1.4%), but none of the patients developed concomitant neurologic worsening or required neurosurgery.
Conclusions:
Systematic routine use of a second CT scan in mild head trauma in patients taking anticoagulants is expensive and clinically unnecessary.
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