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<< Acute Spinal Injuries: Assessment and Management

References

Evidence-based medicine requires a critical appraisal of the literature based upon study methodology and number of subjects. Not all references are equally robust. The findings of a large, prospective, randomized, and blinded trial should carry more weight than a case report.

To help the reader judge the strength of each reference, pertinent information about the study, such as the type of study and the number of patients in the study, will be included in bold type following the reference, where available. In addition, the most informative references cited in the paper, as determined by the authors, will be noted by an asterisk (*) next to the number of the reference.

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  4. NSCISC. SPINAL CORD INJURY Facts and Figures at a Glance. Birmingham, Alabama: National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center; 2003. (Database)
  5. Bracken MB. Steroids for acute spinal cord injury. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2002(3):CD001046. (Systematic Review)
  6. * Kwan I BF, Roberts I. On behalf of the WHO Pre-Hospital Trauma Care Steering Committee. Spinal Immobilization for Trauma Patients. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003(3). (Systematic Review)
  7. Guidelines for management of acute cervical spinal injuries. Introduction. Neurosurgery. Mar 2002;50(3 Suppl):S1. (Systematic Review)
  8. Bagley LJ. Imaging of spinal trauma. Radiol Clin North Am. Jan 2006;44(1):1-12, vii. (Systematic Review)
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  10. Sekhon LH, Fehlings MG. Epidemiology, demographics, and pathophysiology of acute spinal cord injury. Spine. Dec 15 2001;26(24 Suppl):S2-12. (Systematic Review)
  11. * Goldberg W, Mueller C, Panacek E, Tigges S, Hoffman JR, Mower WR. Distribution and patterns of blunt traumatic cervical spine injury. Ann Emerg Med. Jul 2001;38(1):17-21. (Prospective Observational – 34069 patients)
  12. Hadley MN. Guidelines for management of acute cervical spinal injuries. Introduction. Neurosurgery. Mar 2002;50(3 Suppl):S7-S20. (Editorial)
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  18. Totten VY, Sugarman DB. Respiratory effects of spinal immobilization. Prehosp Emerg Care. Oct-Dec 1999;3(4):347-352. (Experimental – 39 Volunteers)
  19. Podolsky S, Baraff LJ, Simon RR, Hoffman JR, Larmon B, Ablon W. Efficacy of cervical spine immobilization methods. J Trauma. Jun 1983;23(6):461-465. (Experimental– 25 Volunteers)
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  25. Bauer D, Kowalski R. Effect of spinal immobilization devices on pulmonary function in the healthy, nonsmoking man. Ann Emerg Med. Sep 1988;17(9):915-918. (Prospective Observational – 15 Volunteers)
  26. Cordell WH, Hollingsworth JC, Olinger ML, Stroman SJ, Nelson DR. Pain and tissue-interface pressures during spine-board immobilization. Ann Emerg Med. Jul 1995;26(1):31-36. (Experimental – 20 Volunteers)
  27. Davies G, Deakin C, Wilson A. The effect of a rigid collar on intracranial pressure. Injury. Nov 1996;27(9):647-649. (Experimental – 19 Volunteers)
  28. Hewitt S. Skin necrosis caused by a semi-rigid cervical collar in a ventilated patient with multiple injuries. Injury. Jul 1994;25(5):323-324. (Case Report)
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  30. Morris CG, McCoy EP, Lavery GG. Spinal immobilisation for unconscious patients with multiple injuries. Bmj. Aug 28 2004;329(7464):495-499. (Systemtatic Review)
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  32. Domeier RM, Swor RA, Evans RW, et al. Multicenter prospective validation of prehospital clinical spinal clearance criteria. J Trauma. Oct 2002;53(4):744-750. (Prospective Observational – 8975 patients)
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  34. Baez AA, Schiebel N. Evidence-based emergency medicine/systematic review abstract. Is routine spinal immobilization an effective intervention for trauma patients? Ann Emerg Med. Jan 2006;47(1):110-112. (Systematic Review)
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  40. Gerling MC, Davis DP, Hamilton RS, et al. Effects of cervical spine immobilization technique and laryngoscope blade selection on an unstable cervical spine in a cadaver model of intubation. Ann Emerg Med. Oct 2000;36(4):293-300. (Experimental)
  41. Hastings RH, Vigil AC, Hanna R, Yang BY, Sartoris DJ. Cervical spine movement during laryngoscopy with the Bullard, Macintosh, and Miller laryngoscopes. Anesthesiology. Apr 1995;82(4):859-869. (Randomized Controlled Trial – 35 patients)
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  54. Ringenberg BJ, Fisher AK, Urdaneta LF, Midthun MA. Rational ordering of cervical spine radiographs following trauma. Ann Emerg Med. Aug 1988;17(8):792-796. (Retrospective Review – 312 patients)
  55. Roberge RJ, Wears RC, Kelly M, et al. Selective application of cervical spine radiography in alert victims of blunt trauma: a prospective study. J Trauma. Jun 1988;28(6):784-788. (Prospective Observational – 467 patients)
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  59. Mower WR, Hoffman J. Comparison of the Canadian C-Spine rule and NEXUS decision instrument in evaluating blunt trauma patients for cervical spine injury. Ann Emerg Med. Apr 2004;43(4):515-517. (Letter)
  60. Wyer P. The Canadian C-SPine Rule more accurately identified cervical-spine injury in trauma than the NEXUS Low-Risk Criteria. ACP Journal Club. July/August 2004 2004;141(1):24. (Journal Review)
  61. Knopp R. Comparing NEXUS and Canadian C-Spine decision rules for determining the need for cervical spine radiography. Ann Emerg Med. Apr 2004;43(4):518-520. (Editorial)
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  65. Frankel HL, Rozycki GS, Ochsner MG, Harviel JD, Champion HR. Indications for obtaining surveillance thoracic and lumbar spine radiographs. J Trauma. Oct 1994;37(4):673-676. (Retrospective Review – 1485 patients)
  66. Hsu JM, Joseph T, Ellis AM. Thoracolumbar fracture in blunt trauma patients: guidelines for diagnosis and imaging. Injury. Jun 2003;34(6):426-433. (Retrospective Performance Assessment – 200 patients)
  67. Meldon SW, Moettus LN. Thoracolumbar spine fractures: clinical presentation and the effect of altered sensorium and major injury. J Trauma. Dec 1995;39(6):1110-1114. (Retrospective Review – 145 patients)
  68. Saboe LA, Reid DC, Davis LA, Warren SA, Grace MG. Spine trauma and associated injuries. J Trauma. Jan 1991;31(1):43-48. (Retrospective Review – 508 patients)
  69. Samuels LE, Kerstein MD. ‘Routine’ radiologic evaluation of the thoracolumbar spine in blunt trauma patients: a reappraisal. J Trauma. Jan 1993;34(1):85-89. (Retrospective Review – 756 patients)
  70. Stanislas MJ, Latham JM, Porter KM, Alpar EK, Stirling AJ. A high risk group for thoracolumbar fractures. Injury. Jan 1998;29(1):15-18. (Retrospective Review – 110 patients)
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  73. Vaccaro AR, An HS, Lin S, Sun S, Balderston RA, Cotler JM. Noncontiguous injuries of the spine. J Spinal Disord. Sep 1992;5(3):320-329. (Prospective Observational – 372 patients)
  74. Brown RL, Brunn MA, Garcia VF. Cervical spine injuries in children: a review of 103 patients treated consecutively at a level 1 pediatric trauma center. J Pediatr Surg. Aug 2001;36(8):1107-1114. (Retrospective Review – 103 patients)
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  93. Diaz JJ, Jr., Gillman C, Morris JA, Jr., May AK, Carrillo YM, Guy J. Are five-view plain films of the cervical spine unreliable? A prospective evaluation in blunt trauma patients with altered mental status. J Trauma. Oct 2003;55(4):658-663; discussion 663-654. (Prospective Observational – 1006 patients)
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  108. Berne JD, Velmahos GC, El-Tawil Q, et al. Value of complete cervical helical computed tomographic scanning in identifying cervical spine injury in the unevaluable blunt trauma patient with multiple injuries: a prospective study. J Trauma. Nov 1999;47(5):896-902; discussion 902-893. (Prospective Observational – 58 patients)
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  122. Frank JB, Lim CK, Flynn JM, Dormans JP. The efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging in pediatric cervical spine clearance. Spine. Jun 1 2002;27(11):1176-1179. (Retrospective Review – 102 patients)
  123. Geck MJ, Yoo S, Wang JC. Assessment of cervical ligamentous injury in trauma patients using MRI. J Spinal Disord. Oct 2001;14(5):371-377. (Retrospective Review – 89 patients)
  124. Grabb PA, Pang D. Magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality in children. Neurosurgery. Sep 1994;35(3):406-414; discussion 414. (Prospective Observational – 7 patients)
  125. Keiper MD, Zimmerman RA, Bilaniuk LT. MRI in the assessment of the supportive soft tissues of the cervical spine in acute trauma in children. Neuroradiology. Jun 1998;40(6):359-363. (Retrospective Review – 52 patients)
  126. Klein GR, Vaccaro AR, Albert TJ, et al. Efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of posterior cervical spine fractures. Spine. Apr 15 1999;24(8):771-774. (Retrospective Review – 32 patients)
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  128. Silberstein M, Tress BM, Hennessy O. Prevertebral swelling in cervical spine injury: identification of ligament injury with magnetic resonance imaging. Clin Radiol. Nov 1992;46(5):318-323. (Retrospective Review – 27 patients)
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