Brain trauma protocol (MRI)

Last revised by Andrew Murphy on 23 Mar 2023

MRI protocol for brain trauma is a group of MRI sequences put together to best approach traumatic brain injury, especially diffuse axonal injury

Note: This article is intended to outline some general principles of protocol design. The specifics will vary depending on MRI hardware and software, radiologist's and referrer's preference, institutional protocols, patient factors (e.g. allergy) and time constraints. 

Sequences

A good protocol for this purpose involves at least:

  • T1 

    • sequence: sagittal

  • T2

    • sequence: axial

  • FLAIR 

    • sequence: axial 

  • DWI/ADC

  • SWI or T2* 

    • purpose: susceptibility sensitive sequences are exquisitely sensitive to blood products and may demonstrate small regions of susceptibility artefact at the grey white matter junction, in the corpus callosum or the brainstem

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