Evaluation Of Patients Who Admitted To Emergency Service With Altered State Of Consciousness Using The Infrascanner Device

Time management and making a correct diagnosis are very important for survival of patients with altered state of consciousness. In our study, we aimed to determine the value of the infrascanner device, which is a non-invasive and a fast method in detection of intracranial hemorrhage. A total of 38 patients who had been admitted to the emergency department of our hospital with the complaint of altered state of consciousness were included in the study. The patients underwent investigations with regard to hemorrhage immediately after admission using the infrascanner device by trained residents of emergency medicine. 20 (52.6%) of the patients were male. The mean age was 51.8 years and the Glasgow Coma Scale was 10.6 (15-3). While hemorrhage was detected on cerebral CT in 22 (57.9%) patients, it was not detected in 16 (42.1%). In the infrascanner device examination, negative results were detected in 24 (63.2%) patients and positive results were detected in 14 (36.8%) patients. The sensitivity of the infrascanner device was found to be 63.6%, specifity was found as 100%, the positive predictive value was found as 100%, and the negative predictive value was found as 66.7%. The results obtained from the study indicate that the infrascanner device provided beneficial clinical data in addition to symptoms and neurological examination in patients who required further imaging procedures. The high specificity puts forth that patients in whom hemorrhages are detected using the infrascanner device, should definitely be evaluated with further tests.