Impact of routine use of the GFAP and UCH-L1 TBI blood test for management of mild TBI on patient care in a European emergency department

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Abstract Objectives Blood biomarkers glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) were recently introduced into clinical practice for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) assessment. However, real world data demonstrating TBI biomarkers’ impact on the emergency department (ED) practice is lacking. This study aimed to describe the experience of a single tertiary hospital ED that introduced TBI biomarkers GFAP and UCH-L1 measurements using Alinity i ® TBI test into routine mTBI assessment. Methods Retrospective data were extracted from hospital records of patients who had TBI test ordered in the ED. Test results and subsequent clinical care pathway data (CT order, CT scan result, admission or discharge) were analysed. Results Data was available for 460 mTBI patients (median age 43, 54% male). Of the 216 patients (47%) with a negative TBI test, 198 did not have a CT scan, and 18 had a CT scan with no abnormalities detected. Among 244 patients with a positive TBI test, 162 had CT scans, with 12 (6.6%) showing intracranial lesions. Overall, among all 180 scanned patients every patient with intracranial lesion findings had a positive TBI test result. The test could rule out CT scans in 47% of mild TBI patients. In practice, 42% of patients avoided a CT scan based on the TBI test results with additional 12% of patients ruled out based on clinical assessment. Conclusions Routine TBI test use spared over 40% of patients from CT scanning, with further potential to reduce unnecessary imaging through improved protocol adherence.

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