A systematic review of the need for MRI for the clearance of cervical spine injury in obtunded blunt trauma patients after normal cervical spine CT.
Clearance of cervical spine injury (CSI) in the obtunded or comatose blunt trauma patient remains controversial. In patients with unreliable physical examination and no evidence of CSI on computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine (CS-MRI) is the typical follow-up study. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that CS-MRI is unnecessary with negative findings on a multi-detector CT (MDCT) scan. This review article systematically analyzes current literature to address the controversies surrounding clearance of CSI in obtunded blunt trauma patients. A literature search through MEDLINE database was conducted using all databases on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) for keywords: "cervical spine injury," "obtunded," and "MRI." The search was limited to studies published within the last 10 years and with populations of patients older than 18 years old. Eleven studies were included in the analysis yielding data on 1535 patients. CS-MRI detected abnormalities in 256 patients (16.6%). The abnormalities reported on CS-MRI resulted in prolonged rigid c-collar immobilization in 74 patients (4.9%). Eleven patients (0.7%) had unstable injury detected on CS-MRI alone that required surgical intervention. In the obtunded blunt trauma patient with unreliable clinical examination and a normal CT scan, there is still a role for CS-MRI in detecting clinically significant injuries when MRI resources are available. However, when a reliable clinical exam reveals intact gross motor function, CS-MRI may be unnecessary.
Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burn, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Iyore Ao
IA
James
Department of Surgery, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
Ahmad
A
Moukalled
Department of Orthopedics, Division of Spine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Elizabeth
E
Yu
School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
David B
DB
Tulman
Department of Anesthesiology and Neurological Surgery, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Sergio D
SD
Bergese
Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burn, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Christian D
CD
Jones
Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burn, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Stanislaw Pa
SP
Stawicki
Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma, Critical Care and Burn, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
David C
DC
Evans
Blunt trauma; cervical spine CT and MRI; obtunded