Emergency & trauma

PECARN pediatric head injury

Age-specific head CT decision support after pediatric blunt head trauma.

Intended population: Younger than 18 years, blunt head trauma within 24 hours, GCS 14–15, and no excluded condition.

Severe mechanism: vehicle ejection, rollover or passenger death; unhelmeted cyclist or pedestrian struck by vehicle; high-impact object; fall >3 ft if <2 years or >5 ft if ≥2 years.
Use added caution below 3 months. This tool does not assess abuse or replace serial observation.

Exact age (years)

Blunt head trauma within the past 24 hours?

Penetrating injury, tumor, assessment-limiting neurologic disorder, shunt, bleeding disorder, prior outside imaging, suspected abuse, or only trivial injury with a superficial scalp wound?

Clinician-assessed GCS (pediatric scale when appropriate)

Agitation, somnolence, repetitive questioning, or slow verbal response?

Severe mechanism as defined below?

Sources and scoring references

PECARN original derivation and validation (2009) ↗

Implementation references reviewed October 28, 2026. Verify applicability and unusual or treatment-changing results against the linked references and local guidance.