Are CT head scans justified in patients with cirrhosis presenting to the ED with hepatic encephalopathy?

Abstract Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a neuropsychiatric complication of liver disease. Our retrospective audit of patients with cirrhosis presenting to the emergency department (ED) over a 2‐year period with altered mental status found that 37% of computed tomography (CT) head scans were performed unnecessarily, yielding no abnormalities. Findings support limiting CT use in low‐risk cases to reduce radiation exposure, ED duration and healthcare costs.