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Trauma
Reported LOC didn't flag post-traumatic amnesia in ED
Post‐Traumatic Amnesia Testing for Suspected Concussion in the Emergency Department: A Retrospective Study
Emergency Medicine Australasia · 2026-11-01 · Added 3 November 2026
An Australian retrospective cohort of 6,259 adults tested with the Abbreviated Westmead PTA Scale after head injury found 91.8% passed, with post-traumatic amnesia associated with initial GCS 13–14 but not with reported loss of consciousness.
- Study type
- Cohort
- Design
- Single-centre retrospective cohort
- Participants
- 6,259 adults presenting to ED with head injury
- Main finding
- 91.8% passed the A-WPTAS; PTA was more frequent with GCS 13–14, in male patients, after low falls and after hours, but pass rates were similar with documented LOC (90.6%) and without (92%, p=0.13)
- Caveat
- ED population only, retrospective electronic records, and no link back to prehospital documentation
- Bottom line
- Hypothesis-generating
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). The A-WPTAS is an ED tool rather than something ambulance crews administer, but crew handover observations — GCS and reported LOC — feed straight into this assessment, and LOC alone looks like a weak signaller.
Learning goal
Recognise post-traumatic amnesia in head injury patients even when loss of consciousness is not reported.
More
- Topic: Trauma
- Daily scan: 3 November 2026
- Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 3 November 2026
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