Variant 1: Child. Minor acute blunt head trauma. Very low risk for clinically important brain injury per PECARN criteria. Excluding suspected abusive head trauma. Initial imaging.
Variant 2: Child. Minor acute blunt head trauma. Intermediate risk for clinically important brain injury per PECARN criteria. Excluding suspected abusive head trauma. Initial imaging.
Variant 3: Child. Minor acute blunt head trauma. High risk for clinically important brain injury per PECARN criteria. Excluding suspected abusive head trauma. Initial imaging.
Variant 4: Child. Moderate or severe acute blunt head trauma (GCS less than or equal to 13). Excluding suspected abusive head trauma. Initial imaging.
Variant 5: Child. Subacute blunt head trauma with cognitive or neurologic signs.
Variant 6: Child. Chronic blunt head trauma with new or progressive cognitive or neurologic deficits. Excluding suspected abusive head trauma and post-traumatic seizure.
Appendix Key

A more complete discussion of the items presented below can be found by accessing the supporting documents at the designated hyperlinks.

Appropriateness Category:The panel’s recommendation for a procedure based on the assessment of the risks and benefits of performing the procedure for the specified clinical scenario.

SOE: Strength of Evidence. The assessment of the amount and quality of evidence found in the peer reviewed medical literature for an appropriateness recommendation.

  • References: The citation number and PMID for the reference(s) associated with the recommendation.
  • Study Quality: The assessment of the quality of an individual reference based on the number of study quality elements described in the reference.

RRL: Relative Radiation Level. A population based assessment of the amount of radiation a typical patient may be exposed to during the specified procedure.

Rating: The final rating (1-9 scale) for the procedure as determined by the panel during rating rounds.

Median: The median rating (1-9 scale) for the procedure as determined by the panel during rating rounds.

Final tabulations: A histogram showing the number of panel members who rated the procedure as noted in the column heading (ie, 1, 2, 3, etc.).

Additional supporting documents about the AC methodology and processes can be found at www.acr.org/ac.