Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the radiation risks in terms of effective dose and the cancer risk probability resulting from computed tomography (CT) scans of the head for traumatic patients and determine how often traumatic abnormalities occur. Data were collected retrospectively for 138 traumatic patients from the picture archiving and communication system, including exposure parameters and clinical findings. The mean values of the dose length product, CT dose index volume and effective dose for the CT head examinations were 787 +/- 67.7 mGy center dot cm, 40.1 +/- 1.33 mGy and 1.47 +/- 0.12 mSv, respectively. Of the total cases of CT scans of the head, 57.2% (n = 79) exhibited positive findings. The cancer risk probability for the patients was 6.04 x 10(-5) per procedure, with no statistically significant differences between positive and negative findings (p = 0.345). Taking into consideration the justification of the examination, the risk of missing positive findings and the radiation risks, the immediate benefit of head CT for trauma patients for guiding medical decisions outweighs the radiation risk that will probably manifest later.