TRAUMA CT PROTOCOL

1. Unenhanced spiral brain 1.25mm (bone and soft tissue algorithm); 5mm reconstructions immediately available for review.

2. Circle of Willis to symphysis (bone and soft tissue algorithms).

- 150ml biphasic contrast injection – initial 65ml at 2ml/sec then 85 ml at 3.5ml/sec Scan starts at 60 sec
- This gives both portal venous enhancement with good arterial contrast at the same time and the scan can be carried on down to the legs/feet is necessary. The cervical contrast has been very useful both for penetrating injury and for spinal injury/vertebral artery injury.

3. The use of delayed scans limited to specific cases at the request of the radiologist.

64 DETECTOR TRAUMA CT PROTOCOL

1. Unenhanced helical brain 1.25mm (bone and soft tissue algorithm); 3mm reconstructions immediately available for review.

2. Circle of Willis to symphysis 1.25mm (bone and soft tissue algorithms); 3 to 5mm reconstructions immediately available for review.

- 150mL biphasic contrast injection – initial 80cc at 1.4 cc/sec then 70cc at 3.5 cc/sec
- Scan starts 3 sec before the completion of the contrast injection.

3. This gives both portal venous enhancement with good arterial contrast at the same time and the scan can be carried on down to the legs/feet is necessary. The cervical contrast has been very useful both for penetrating injury and for spinal injury/vertebral artery injury.

4. The use of delayed scans limited to specific cases at the request of the radiologist.

16 DETECTOR TRAUMA CT PROTOCOL

1. Unenhanced helical brain 1.5mm (bone and soft tissue algorithm); 3mm reconstructions immediately available for review.

2. Circle of Willis to symphysis 1.5mm (bone and soft tissue algorithms); 5mm reconstructions immediately available for review.

- Arterial phase imaging – 150mL single arterial phase contrast injection at 3.5 cc/sec.
- Automatically triggered with a threshold of 100 HU at the level of the aortic arch.

3. The arterial phase imaging alone is preferred due to the technical limitations of the scanner.

4. The use of delayed scans limited to specific cases at the request of the radiologist.