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Editorial
December 22/29, 2015

Use of Clinical Prediction Rules for Guiding Use of Computed Tomography in Adults With Head Trauma

Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Pediatrics and Epidemiology, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle
  • 2Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, Washington
  • 3Departments of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, University of California, Davis Medical Center, Sacramento
  • 4Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle
  • 5Editor, JAMA Pediatrics
JAMA. 2015;314(24):2629-2631. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.17298

Medical care today is guided by the triple aim of improving the quality of the health status of patient and populations and reducing the cost of care.1 Reducing radiation exposure by avoiding unnecessary computed tomographic (CT) scans is consistent with this triple aim and has been resoundingly endorsed by specialty societies and the Choosing Wisely campaign. Approximately 80 million CT scans are performed annually in the United States2; therefore, decreasing a small percentage of unnecessary CT scans could potentially lead to substantial health care savings and decreased exposure to ionizing radiation, among other benefits.

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