Emergency Medicine · Paediatrics
Palchak Rule for Pediatric Head Trauma calculator
Enter the published formula inputs below to calculate and interpret this score.
Clinical inputs
Allowed range: 0–18 years
A scalp hematoma counts only at 2 years or younger.
Result
1 field remaining
Anyone can run this calculator. Sign in to save, favourite, or send the result.
Ruqelo is AI and can make mistakes. Check important information.
Clinical inputs
- Age (years)Accepted range: 0 to 18
- Abnormal mental status
- Clinical signs of skull fracture
- History of vomiting
- Scalp hematoma
- Headache
Primary source
Palchak MJ et al. A decision rule for identifying children at low risk for brain injuries after blunt head trauma. Ann Emerg Med. DOI: 10.1016/S0196-0644(03)00425-6. PMID: 14520320. Low risk requires the absence of abnormal mental status, clinical signs of skull fracture, a history of vomiting, scalp hematoma in a child 2 years or younger, and headache. Any one of those predictors removes the low-risk classification. The rule identified 105 of 105 children with traumatic brain injury requiring acute intervention and 97 of 98 with traumatic brain injury on CT. (2003)
View source