The incidence of neurosurgical disease in patients who are referred to a neurosurgical centre for CT scanning: should district general hospital scanners be more active?

摘要

This study assessed the incidence of neurosurgical intervention in those patients who were referred to a neurosurgical unit for a CT scan in whom the diagnosis was unclear. A prospective consecutive patient survey was performed over a 29 week period in a regional neurosurgical unit. One hundred patients were included. Twenty-eight patients required neurosurgical management, of whom, nine required surgery within 24 hours. Twenty-three patients required ventilation, of whom 14 did not have a neurosurgical condition. In this group of patients, the majority did not have a neurosurgical condition. Increasing the availability of scanning services in district hospitals may avoid the unnecessary transfer of potentially unstable patients.