Computed tomography scans prior to transfer to a pediatric trauma center: Transfer time effects, neurosurgical interventions, and practice variability.

Study of 2,947 pediatric trauma transfers reveals that pretransfer CT imaging delays definitive care by 27-38 minutes, with wide institutional variability (15-94% CT rates). Among children with normal Glasgow Coma Scale scores who received pretransfer head CT, only 1.3% required urgent neurosurgical intervention, suggesting opportunity for standardized transfer protocols.