# Relationship Between Computed Tomography Findings and Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Mild Head Trauma Cases

## TL;DR

This study examines if CT scan results in mild head trauma correlate with the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a blood marker linked to prognosis.

## Contribution

The study is the first to investigate the relationship between CT findings and NLR in mild head trauma cases.

## Key findings

- Most patients (60.9%) had normal CT findings.
- No statistically significant relationship was found between NLR and CT findings.
- NLR values increased but not significantly in mild head trauma patients.

## Abstract

Aim: It is known that hematological parameters increase after head trauma and have a poor prognosis. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an independent prognostic factor in predicting the outcome of patients with head trauma. In our study, we investigated whether there is a correlation between computed tomography (CT) findings and NLR in cases of mild head trauma (Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score: 14-15).

Material and methods: We retrospectively analyzed 133 cases of head trauma with a GCS score of 14-15 admitted to the emergency department of our hospital. The cases were grouped as normal, scalp lesions, fracture (facial bone fractures, convexity, skull base), and hemorrhage (epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma, subarachnoid hemorrhage) according to CT findings. CT findings and NLR values were compared statistically.

Results: While 60.9% (81 patients) had normal CT findings, 6% (eight patients) had traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, 1.5% (two patients) had epidural hematoma, 1.5% (two patients) had subdural hematoma, 0.8% (one patient) had calvarial fractures, 19.5% (26 patients) had scalp lesions, and 6.8% (nine patients) had nasal fractures. There was no statistically significant relationship between NLR, GCS, and age of the patients. There was no statistically significant difference between the CT findings of the patients in terms of NLR measurements.

Conclusion: Although NLR values increased in patients with mild head trauma, no statistically significant increase was observed. No significant difference was found between NLR values when the cases were grouped according to CT findings.