Injuries to the upper cervical spine are potentially lethal; thus, full characterization of the injuries requires an accurate history and physical examination, and management requires an in-depth understanding of the radiographic projection of the craniocervical complex. Occipital condyle fractures may represent major ligament avulsions and may be highly unstable, requiring surgery. Craniocervi...

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS Esophageal fistula due to cervical spine trauma is a rare, potentially fatal complication, which changes significantly the treatment and the prognosis of the trauma patient. There is scarce data regarding this associated pathology of cervical trauma and it consists only of isolated cases, most of them being reported as a complication of the surgical treatment. We prese...

STUDY DESIGN A retrospective chart analysis of pediatric trauma patients with suspected cervical spine injury was performed. OBJECTIVES This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and cost-efficiency of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol for cervical spine clearance in pediatric trauma patients. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA The evaluation of cervical spine injury in the pediatri...

BACKGROUND Guidelines are in place directing the clearance of the cervical spine in patients who are awake, alert, and oriented, but a gold standard has not been recognized for patients who are obtunded. Our study is designed to determine if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) detects clinically significant injuries not seen on computed tomographic (CT) scans. METHODS The trauma registry was use...

BACKGROUND Although the vertebral artery injuries (VAI) associated with cervical spine trauma are usually clinically occult, they may cause fatal ischemic damage to the brain stem and cerebellum. METHODS We performed a prospective study using computed tomographic angiography (CTA) to determine the frequency of VAI associated with cervical spine injuries and investigate the clinical and radiol...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study Low-Risk Criteria were established to identify patients with a low probability of cervical spine injury in whom imaging of the cervical spine was unnecessary. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the number of unnecessary cervical spine CT studies on the basis of proper application of established clinical guidel...

Spine immobilization in trauma patients suspected of having a spinal injury has been a cornerstone of prehospital treatment for decades. Current practices are based on the belief that a patient with an injured spinal column can deteriorate neurologically without immobilization. Most treatment protocols do not differentiate between blunt and penetrating mechanisms of injury. Current Emergency Me...