Mid Yorkshire Hospitals to take part in Subarachnoid Haemorrhage in the Emergency Department (SHED) research study

Emergency Medicine and Research teams at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust have recruited over 90 patients to take part in the Trainee Emergency Research Network (TERN) Subarachnoid Haemorrhage in the Emergency Department (SHED) study, which took place from November 2021 to 1 February 2023.

The study, which collated data from patients with non-traumatic acute headache presenting to the Emergency Department, aims to understand how these headaches are dealt with by ED’s, and to externally validate the proposed 6-hour CT brain rule out strategy, which as the title suggests, can be used to rule out a subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). SAH is a potentially severe cause of headache in the UK and requires urgent identification and treatment. It is defined as the presence of blood within one of the layers of the brain. The ongoing SHED research may change the way that headaches are managed in ED’s and therefore impact on future treatment if patients re-attend hospital.

Len Richards, Chief Executive of the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said, “A huge thank you and well done to all of our staff members who have been involved in the study. From recruiting patients to collecting and inputting data, you should all be extremely proud of your efforts and I’m looking forward to reading the results when published.”

The final outcomes from the study will be published approximately 12 months after completion.