Management of mild traumatic brain injury in the emergency department

With almost 2.9 million people in the United States seeking medical attention for head trauma each year,1 emergency clinicians face the critical task of efficiently and accurately identifying those with potentially life-threatening intracranial trauma. Due to the heterogeneity of patients, there is no one-size- fits-all approach to managing patients with suspected mild traumatic brain injury. This issue of Emergency Medicine Practice: Trauma EXTRA! reviews clinical guidelines, challenges in care for patients at extremes of ages, and strategies for managing patients with bleeding disorders or those taking anticoagulants or antiplatelet agents. Indications for imaging are also discussed, as well as which patients are at increased risk for intracranial injury and post-concussive syndrome. Management of patients with mild traumatic brain injury includes neurosurgery consultation, hospital admission for further observation, repeat imaging, or discharge home with careful discharge instructions.