Head, facial, and clavicular trauma as a predictor of cervical-spine injury

✍ Scribed by Janet Williams; Dietrich Jehle; Eric Cottington; Charles Shufflebarger

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 300 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1097-6760
• DOI: 10.1016/s0196-0644(05)82786-6

✦ Synopsis

Study hypothesis:

The American College of Surgeons teaches that "trauma occurring above the clavicle should raise a high suspicion for a potential cervical spine injury." In this study, we investigated the association of head, facial, and clavicular trauma with cervical-spine and cord injury.

Methods: The records of 5,021 consecutive trauma patients admitted to a Level I regional trauma center during a three and one-half year period were reviewed retrospectively. The incidence rates of head, facial, clavicle, cervical spine, and cervical cord injuries were recorded. Glasgow Coma Scores (GCS) were obtained on all patients. Statistical analysis using multiple logistic regression andz 2 analysis were performed to determine the relationship between traumatic injury above the clavicle and cervical spine and cord injury.