<< Management Strategies For Acute Headache In The Emergency Department

Diagnostic Studies

No diagnostic studies are indicated if history and physical examination have excluded dangerous secondary causes of headache.³⁶ Individual diagnostic studies for secondary headaches are indicated if the emergency clinician is not able to exclude secondary headache etiologies. (See Table 8.) The most common studies include noncontrast head computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/magnetic resonance venography (MRV) brain, lumbar puncture with cerebrospinal fluid analysis, visual acuity and intraocular pressure, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and carboxyhemoglobin. These tests should be used in a selective fashion to rule out specific secondary causes suspected by history and examination.

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