title: Delayed or Missed Diagnosis of Cervical Instability after Traumatic Injury: Usefulness of Dynamic Flexion and Extension Radiographs.
abstract: Prompt and accurate diagnosis of cervical spine injury is important to prevent the catastrophic results that can be caused by undetected lesions. Delayed or missed diagnosis of cervical spine injury occurs with an incidence of 5 to 20% according to previous studies. In this study, we report four cases of cervical instability without initial radiologic evidence. These cases demonstrate that dynamic flexion and extension radiographies can be a proper choice of modality to diagnose and exclude the possibility of cervical instability in a patient with a suspicious ligament injury on the static radiographies following acute cervical trauma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Gi
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Ikchan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Cervical vertebrae; Dislocation; Radiography