Respiratory effects of spinal immobilization in children.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To assess the restrictive effects of two spinal immobilization strapping techniques on the respiratory capacity of normal, healthy children. DESIGN Prospective study with each subject serving as his own control. PARTICIPANTS Fifty-one healthy children 6 to 15 years old. INTERVENTIONS Participants' forced vital capacity (FVC) measurements were first obtained with children standing and lying supine and then in full spinal immobilization using two different strapping configurations, cross straps and lateral straps. Straps were tightened to allow one hand to fit snugly between the strap and child. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Supine FVC was less than upright FVC (P less than .001). FVC in spinal immobilization ranged from 41% to 96% of supine FVC (80 +/- 9%). There was no difference in FVCs between strapping techniques (P = .83). CONCLUSION Spinal immobilization significantly reduced respiratory capacity as measured by FVC in healthy patients 6 to 15 years old. There is no significant benefit of one strapping technique over the other.