CLINICAL AND ULTRASONOGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF THE NEUROLOGICAL STATUS OF CHILDREN WITH MILD BRAIN INJURY IN ACUTE PHASE
Background. The intracranial changes in children with mild traumatic brain injury in acute period are identified by a combination of clinical-neurological and ultrasonographic evaluations of the condition severity. Aim. The aim of the study was to assess the possibility of performing comprehensive clinical and ultrasonographic evaluations in for determining the severity of the neurological condition of children with mild traumatic brain injury in an acute phase. Materials and Methods. Clinical and ultrasonographic assessment of the severity of the neurological condition was performed on 256 patients with clinical criteria suggesting mild traumatic brain injury. Ultrasonography was used as the main neuroimaging. Results. We found that the diagnostic sensitivity of clinical and ultrasonographic examination for detecting traumatic structural intracranial changes in children with mild traumatic brain injury was 90% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-0.98), diagnostic specificity was 97% (95% CI 0.96-0.98), and diagnostic efficiency was 94.9% (95% CI 0.918-0.971). Conclusions. A comprehensive clinical ultrasonographic approach can be effectively used to assess the severity of the neurological condition of children with mild traumatic brain injury in the acute phase.