Screening for and Treatment of Blunt
Cerebrovascular Injuries Algorithm
Annotation for Point A
Trauma patients with any of the following signs or symptoms should be considered to have BCVI until proven otherwise:
- arterial hemorrhage from neck, mouth, nose, ears;
- large or expanding cervical hematoma;
- cervical bruit in a patient younger than 50 years;
- focal or lateralizing neurologic deficit, including
- evidence of cerebral infarction on computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan; or
- neurologic deficit that is incongruous with CT or MRI findings.
Any of these findings should prompt emergent diagnostic evaluation and interventions directed at hemorrhage control or stroke management.