Routine total-body CT for trauma room patients—life saver or needless radiation exposure?

To scan or not to scan, that is the question. Within the last two decades, in case of multiple trauma patients, this question has been more and more answered with a definite yes as most trauma surgeons believe that total-body CT scanning results in a survival benefit. This is expressed e.g., by the fact that the Annual Report of the Trauma Register of the German Society for Trauma Surgery reveals that 78% of all severely injured patients received total-body CT scan in 2015 (1).