Galveston orientation and amnesia Test: Its utility in the determination of closed head injury in acute spinal cord injury patients

The incidence of closed head injury (CHI) associated with acute spinal cord injury (SCI) has been estimated at 40% to 50%. Closed head injury can be defined as the presence of loss of consciousness (LOC) and/or posttraumatic amnesia (PTA). Consequently, one of the difficulties in establishing a diagnosis of CHI is determining the existence of PTA in those patients without documented LOC. Previous work described the inconsistent evaluation of PTA in the SCI population. This study was conducted to evaluate the utility of the Galveston Orientation and Amnesia Test (GOAT) in establishing the diagnosis of CHI in a series of acute traumatic SCI patients. The GOAT was administered serially for three to five days to 34 patients admitted to our hospital. When information derived from the GOAT was added to that derived from review of medical records alone, the observed incidence of PTA (and by implication CHI) increased significantly (McNemar statistic = 6.4; p=0.01). The GOAT is a quick, simple, and reproducible evaluation of spheres of orientation, which is extremely helpful in diagnosis of PTA in this population. This instrument should be used to evaluate patients at high risk for head injury. Although abnormalities in the GOAT evaluation may also be attributable to factors other than CHI (eg, hypoxia, medication effects), such findings provide evidence suggestive of CHI. This will help determine which patients require a more detailed neuropsychologic assessment.