Cervical Spine Clearance in Obtunded Trauma Patients

Overview

The optimal method of clearing the cervical spine in obtunded trauma patients is unclear. Computed tomography (CT) identifies most injuries but may miss ligamentous injuries. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has been widely used to exclude ligamentous injuries. We postulate that with the new generation of CT scanners, MR imaging is not needed to rule out significant injuries. Our protocol for clearing the cervical spine in obtunded trauma patients depends on CT alone. We are prospectively following these patients and performing a clinical examination when they are awake to show this is a safe approach.

All OBTPs with gross movement of all four extremities admitted to MetroHealth Medical Center (MHMC), the regional Level I Trauma Center in Cleveland OH, who underwent a CT CS at MHMC between October 2006 and September 2008 will be included. Prospective data will be collected on these patients including age, gender, mechanism of injury, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) on admission, results of CT CS, GCS at the time of collar clearance, day of collar clearance, collar complications, date of reexamination, and results of reexamination. We will define an obtunded patient as a patient who was unable to reliably describe the presence or absence of CS symptoms in the opinion of the examining physician. Patients needed to have gross movement of all four extremities to be included in the study; if they did not, they were excluded. The presence or lack of sensory examination was not evaluated for the purposes of this study. We will define cervical collar complications as skin breakdown identified either by the skin care team during weekly rounds in the intensive care unit or by the treating physician at any time.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes