The presence of nonthoracic distracting injuries does not affect the initial clinical examination of the cervical spine in evaluable blunt trauma patients: a prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: A distracting injury mandates cervical spine (c-spine) imaging in the evaluable blunt trauma patient who demonstrates no pain or tenderness over the c-spine. The purpose of this study was to examine which distracting injuries can negatively affect the sensitivity of the standard clinical examination of the c-spine.

METHODS: This is a prospective observational study conducted at a Level I Trauma Center from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2009. After institutional review board approval, all evaluable (Glasgow Coma Scale score ≥13) blunt trauma patients older than 16 years sustaining a c-spine injury were enrolled. A distracting injury was defined as any immediately evident bony or soft tissue injury or a complaint of non-c-spine pain whether or not an actual injury was subsequently diagnosed. Information regarding the initial clinical examination and the presence of a distracting injury was collected from the senior resident or attending trauma surgeon involved in the initial management.

RESULTS: During the study period, 101 evaluable patients sustained a c-spine injury. Distracting injuries were present in 88 patients (87.1%). The most common was rib fracture (21.6%), followed by lower extremity fracture (20.5%) and upper extremity fracture (12.5%). Only four (4.0%) patients had no pain or tenderness on the initial examination of the c-spine. All four patients had bruising and tenderness to the upper anterior chest. None of these four patients developed neurologic sequelae or required a surgical stabilization or immobilization.

CONCLUSION: C-spine imaging may not be required in the evaluable blunt trauma patient despite distracting injuries in any body regions that do not involve the upper chest. Further definition of distracting injuries is mandated to avoid unnecessary utilization of resources and to reduce the imaging burden associated with the evaluation of the c-spine.