Radiographic cervical spine injury patterns in admitted blunt trauma patients with and without prehospital spinal motion restriction

Objectives Selective prehospital cervical spine motion restriction (C-SMR) following blunt trauma has increasingly been used by emergency medical service (EMS) providers. We determined rates of prehospital C-SMR and concomitant radiographic injury patterns.Methods A retrospective trauma registry and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: James Vosswinkel, Jonathan Martin, Zhe Wang, Adam J Singer, Emily Huang, Randeep Jawa, Susan Jao, Ambika Mukhi, Neeta Chaudhary, Victoria Yuan, Robert Laskowski
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2023-11-01
Series:Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open
Online Access:https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/8/1/e001092.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850209850160578560
author James Vosswinkel
Jonathan Martin
Zhe Wang
Adam J Singer
Emily Huang
Randeep Jawa
Susan Jao
Ambika Mukhi
Neeta Chaudhary
Victoria Yuan
Robert Laskowski
author_facet James Vosswinkel
Jonathan Martin
Zhe Wang
Adam J Singer
Emily Huang
Randeep Jawa
Susan Jao
Ambika Mukhi
Neeta Chaudhary
Victoria Yuan
Robert Laskowski
author_sort James Vosswinkel
collection DOAJ
description Objectives Selective prehospital cervical spine motion restriction (C-SMR) following blunt trauma has increasingly been used by emergency medical service (EMS) providers. We determined rates of prehospital C-SMR and concomitant radiographic injury patterns.Methods A retrospective trauma registry and chart review was conducted for all adult blunt trauma patients who were transported by EMS and hospitalized with radiographic cervical spine injuries from 2011 to 2019 at a level 1 trauma center.Results Of 658 admitted blunt trauma patients with confirmed cervical spine injury by imaging, 117 (17.8%) did not receive prehospital C-SMR. Patients without prehospital C-SMR were significantly older (76 vs 54 years), more often had low fall as mechanism of injury (59.8% vs 15.9%) and had lower Injury Severity Score (10 vs 17). Patients without C-SMR (Non-SMR) experienced the full array of cervical spine injury types and locations. While the non-SMR patients most often had dens fractures,C-SMR patients most often had C7 fractures; frequencies of fractures at the remaining vertebral levels were comparable. On MRI, cervical spinal cord (8.5% vs 19.6%) and ligamentous injuries (5.1% vs 12.6%) occurred less often in non-SMR patients. Approximately 8.5% of non-SMR patients and 20% of C-SMR patients required cervical spine surgery.Conclusion Patients without prehospital C-SMR demonstrate a broad array of cervical spine injuries. While the rates of certain cervical injuries are lower in prehospital non-SMR patients, they are not insignificant.Level of evidence Level III.
format Article
id doaj-art-ed3d3c312985493d8aac4a869e1b5eae
institution OA Journals
issn 2397-5776
language English
publishDate 2023-11-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open
spelling doaj-art-ed3d3c312985493d8aac4a869e1b5eae2025-08-20T02:09:55ZengBMJ Publishing GroupTrauma Surgery & Acute Care Open2397-57762023-11-018110.1136/tsaco-2023-001092Radiographic cervical spine injury patterns in admitted blunt trauma patients with and without prehospital spinal motion restrictionJames Vosswinkel0Jonathan Martin1Zhe Wang2Adam J Singer3Emily Huang4Randeep Jawa5Susan Jao6Ambika Mukhi7Neeta Chaudhary8Victoria Yuan9Robert Laskowski10Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USAStony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USADepartment of Geriatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, ChinaEmergency Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USAStony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USAStony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USAStony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USAStony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USAStony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USAStony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USAStony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USAObjectives Selective prehospital cervical spine motion restriction (C-SMR) following blunt trauma has increasingly been used by emergency medical service (EMS) providers. We determined rates of prehospital C-SMR and concomitant radiographic injury patterns.Methods A retrospective trauma registry and chart review was conducted for all adult blunt trauma patients who were transported by EMS and hospitalized with radiographic cervical spine injuries from 2011 to 2019 at a level 1 trauma center.Results Of 658 admitted blunt trauma patients with confirmed cervical spine injury by imaging, 117 (17.8%) did not receive prehospital C-SMR. Patients without prehospital C-SMR were significantly older (76 vs 54 years), more often had low fall as mechanism of injury (59.8% vs 15.9%) and had lower Injury Severity Score (10 vs 17). Patients without C-SMR (Non-SMR) experienced the full array of cervical spine injury types and locations. While the non-SMR patients most often had dens fractures,C-SMR patients most often had C7 fractures; frequencies of fractures at the remaining vertebral levels were comparable. On MRI, cervical spinal cord (8.5% vs 19.6%) and ligamentous injuries (5.1% vs 12.6%) occurred less often in non-SMR patients. Approximately 8.5% of non-SMR patients and 20% of C-SMR patients required cervical spine surgery.Conclusion Patients without prehospital C-SMR demonstrate a broad array of cervical spine injuries. While the rates of certain cervical injuries are lower in prehospital non-SMR patients, they are not insignificant.Level of evidence Level III.https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/8/1/e001092.full
spellingShingle James Vosswinkel
Jonathan Martin
Zhe Wang
Adam J Singer
Emily Huang
Randeep Jawa
Susan Jao
Ambika Mukhi
Neeta Chaudhary
Victoria Yuan
Robert Laskowski
Radiographic cervical spine injury patterns in admitted blunt trauma patients with and without prehospital spinal motion restriction
Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open
title Radiographic cervical spine injury patterns in admitted blunt trauma patients with and without prehospital spinal motion restriction
title_full Radiographic cervical spine injury patterns in admitted blunt trauma patients with and without prehospital spinal motion restriction
title_fullStr Radiographic cervical spine injury patterns in admitted blunt trauma patients with and without prehospital spinal motion restriction
title_full_unstemmed Radiographic cervical spine injury patterns in admitted blunt trauma patients with and without prehospital spinal motion restriction
title_short Radiographic cervical spine injury patterns in admitted blunt trauma patients with and without prehospital spinal motion restriction
title_sort radiographic cervical spine injury patterns in admitted blunt trauma patients with and without prehospital spinal motion restriction
url https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/8/1/e001092.full
work_keys_str_mv AT jamesvosswinkel radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction
AT jonathanmartin radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction
AT zhewang radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction
AT adamjsinger radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction
AT emilyhuang radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction
AT randeepjawa radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction
AT susanjao radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction
AT ambikamukhi radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction
AT neetachaudhary radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction
AT victoriayuan radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction
AT robertlaskowski radiographiccervicalspineinjurypatternsinadmittedblunttraumapatientswithandwithoutprehospitalspinalmotionrestriction