Physicians in the emergency department at Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital have become the first in the U.S. to use a rapid blood test to evaluate adult patients with concussions outside of a clinical trial.
The FDA-cleared test developed by Abbott delivers results in about 15 minutes. It produces results based on a patient's plasma, looking for markers in the sample associated with brain injury to possibly eliminate the need for CT scans. The scans are typically used to identify more serious injuries, such as a brain bleed.
"Tampa General is the first emergency department to use this test method and make it available for patient use," Michele Moran, MSN, RN, senior nursing director in the hospital's ED, said in a Nov. 1 news release from the hospital. "This test gives us another tool to properly evaluate potential [traumatic brain injury] patients. During the risk assessment and the physical examination of the patient, we will determine who can most benefit from the blood test versus the CT scan."
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