Podcast #271: Nexus Chest CT Scan Guidelines

The nexus chest CT scan rule is based on an 11,000 subject, multicenter study that looked for signs following a trauma that predicted significant findings on subsequent chest CT.

Findings that were associated with abnormal chest CT included: abnormal CXR, distracting injury, chest wall, sternal, thoracic spine or scapular tenderness. Furthermore, a mechanism of injury that includes rapid deceleration was also associated.

If a patient has none of the above findings, then there is only a small chance that there will be an abnormal chest CT.