Utility of brain imaging in pediatric patients with a suspected accidental spinal injury but no brain injury-related symptoms

Purpose Imaging is the gold standard in diagnosing traumatic brain injury, but unnecessary scans should be avoided, especially in children and adolescents. Clinical decision-making rules often help to distinguish the patients who need imaging, but if spinal trauma is suspected, concomitant brain imaging is often conducted. Whether the co-occurrence of brain and spine injuries is high enough to justify head imaging in patients without symptoms suggesting brain injury is unknown. Objective This study aims to assess the diagnostic yield of brain MRI in pediatric patients with suspected or confirmed accidental spinal trauma but no potential brain injury symptoms. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical and imaging data of pediatric patients (under 18 years old) who have undergone concomitant MRI of the brain and spine because of acute spinal trauma in our emergency radiology department over a period of 8 years. We compared the brain MRI findings in patients with and without symptoms suggesting brain injury and contrasted spine and brain MRI findings. Results Of 179 patients (mean age 11.7 years, range 0–17), 137 had symptoms or clinical findings suggesting brain injury, and 42 did not. None of the patients without potential brain injury symptoms had traumatic findings in brain MRI. This finding also applied to patients with high-energy trauma ( n = 47) and was unrelated to spinal MRI findings. Conclusion Pediatric accidental trauma patients with suspected or confirmed spine trauma but no symptoms or clinical findings suggesting brain injury seem not to benefit from brain imaging.