Australian Paediatric Head Injury Rules Study

This study aims to determine which of three existing clinical decision rules for the management of paediatric head injuries (CATCH, CHALICE & PECARN), can best be applied to the Australasian population to improve current emergency department patient care through (i) more accurately identifying those children who have clinically significant intracranial injuries and (ii) reducing the number of unnecessary brain CT scans.

Study design

Prospective observational study

Chief Investigator

Franz Babl

Time frame

2011 – 2015

Funding

• Emergency Medicine Foundation
• Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
• Auckland Medical Research Foundation
• A+ Trust, Auckland District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand
• Townsville Hospital and Health Service Private Practice Research and Education Trust fund
• WA Health Targeted Research Fund
• National Health and Medical Research Council

Site locations

• Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
• Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth, Australia
• Monash Childrens Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
• Townsville Hospital, QLD, Australia
• Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia
• Kidzfirst Middlemore Hospital, New Zealand
• Starship Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand
• Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide, Australia
• The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia
• Mater Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia

Sample

20,000 children aged 0 – 18 years, diagnosed with head injury

Contact

Franz.babl@rch.org.au