Can a CT Scan Pick Up a TBI?
CT Imaging May Prove Moderate or Severe Traumatic Brain Injury But Does Not Detect Concussions or Mild TBIs Often
Ordering diagnostic imaging is one of the first things medical providers do if you go to the emergency room (ER) with complaints of head trauma, confusion, or a loss of consciousness. This imaging aims to identify traumatic brain injury requiring immediate surgical intervention or an induced coma to reduce swelling.
The most common neuroimaging test is the Computed Tomography or “CT” scan. Indeed, brain CT scan results are available in the medical reports for most (if not all) car crash cases and workers compensation claims involving concussions and head injuries I handle.
This article explains the advantages and disadvantages of CT scans for concussions and other traumatic brain injury types. Although the CT scan usually shows more severe levels of TBI, its use is limited in mild traumatic brain injury cases with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores of 13 or higher.
Keep reading to learn more about brain CT tests in personal injury litigation.
And call (804) 251-1620 or (757) 810-5614 to see how a brain injury attorney can help you get the money damages you deserve.
What is a CT Scan of the Brain?
A brain CT scan is a diagnostic imaging test that uses X-ray images and computer technology to produce cross-sectional images of the head’s internal structures.
What Does a Brain CT Scan Diagnose?
A brain CT scan helps detect bone fractures, soft tissue injuries, tumors, swelling, and blood vessel damage causing bleeding in the brain.
CT Scan vs. X-Ray for Head Trauma
An X-ray has its uses.
But compared to an X-ray study, the brain CT scan gives more detail. Medical providers need this extra information for internal injuries such as soft tissue damage, hemorrhages, and hematomas rather than skull fractures. And many moderate and mild TBIs fit this description.
Obtaining this valuable data, however, comes with risk. A CT scan exposes you to more radiation than a plain X-ray.
Why Would a Doctor Order a CT Scan Instead of a Brain MRI?
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the best diagnostic imaging for traumatic brain injury.
However, primary care providers and emergency room doctors use CT scans instead of MRI for some reasons for patients with head trauma and suspected brain injury.
First, the CT scan is much quicker. Time is essential when a patient is unconscious or writhing in pain.
Second, a brain CT scan is cheaper than a brain MRI. Indeed, a CT scan may cost half of an MRI.
Therefore, a CT scan is often the first diagnostic imaging procedure you will undergo as a TBI patient, followed by an MRI after the acute trauma phase if symptoms persist.
How Long Does a CT Scan Take?
A brain CT scan is quick. It takes about 30 to 60 minutes. And most of that time involves preparation rather than the actual test, which may take less than five minutes.
What Happens During a Brain CT Scan?
A CT scanner looks like a giant donut.
During the test, you will lie on a table that slides into the hole in this “donut.” An X-ray tube will rotate through the circular donut structure as you lie there, taking images and transferring them to the computer.
Then the table will move forward slightly, and the X-ray tube will take more pictures at this angle.
This process continues until you complete the CT scan.
What Happens After the CT Test?
Your doctor will review the brain CT scan results to determine appropriate treatment and make a firm diagnosis of concussion, skull fracture, diffuse axonal injury, or brain bleed.
If you suffer a mild TBI, the hospital may discharge you once your condition plateaus after the traumatic event.
Will a CT Scan Show if I Had a Concussion or Mild TBI?
No, a CT scan will not detect a concussion for many of you.
But you may still have a concussion or diffuse axonal injury despite a normal CT scan. Indeed, many auto accident victims and injured workers who develop post-concussion syndrome have normal CT findings (and MRI results). And this is why a concussion is often called an invisible injury.
Doctors and researchers have identified this phenomenon for years. As Dr. M.P. Alexanders says in his article Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Pathophysiology, Natural History and Clinical Management, 45 Neurology 1253, 1253 (1995): “By common clinical agreement, neuroimaging studies are negative” for many mild traumatic brain injury patients who have a functional impairment.
A CT scan may be normal despite having a concussion because this brain injury type is often microscopic. And recent studies have concluded that although CT scans help identify structural defects, they often lack the sensitivity to identify damage to the brain in mild TBI cases.
Indeed, some medical experts suggest limiting diagnostic imaging such as CT scans or MRIs to TBI patients with a loss of consciousness, a penetrating injury, a suspected skull fracture, or an abnormally low GCS score.
Helping TBI Patients Use the Law to Recover When Diagnostic Imaging is Normal
Traumatic brain injury litigation requires knowledge of the law and the ability to fight against common defenses, such as malingering (faking a disability), based on normal brain CT scans and other imaging.
While seeing is often believing, we can help you overcome these obstacles and negotiate a top-dollar workers compensation settlement or auto accident insurance payout.
Call (804) 251-1620 or (757) 810-5614 for help recovering.
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