title: Identification of Risk Factors for Cervical Spine Injury from Pediatric Trauma Registry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cervical spine injuries are rare in children. Our goal is to establish guidelines for cervical spine clearance that are practical for our pediatric population, and, in the process, to reduce the risk of radiation exposure from unnecessary advanced imaging.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed the records from the registries of two pediatric trauma centers from the past 11 years (January 2002 to June 2013). Patients aged 1 month to 17 years, who had a CT scan of the cervical spine due to trauma indication for possible cervical spine injury, were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three risk factors were identified as being significant for the presence of a cervical spine injury. Patients who sustained a cervical spine injury were more likely to be male (p = 0.0261), were more severely injured with a higher injury severity score (ISS 16.39 ± 15.79 injured vs. 8.7 ± 9.4 uninjured), and presented with neck tenderness (p = 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our study, significant cervical spine injury is related to male gender, higher ISS and neck tenderness.
authors.affiliation: Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, N.Y., USA.
authors.forename: Aisha S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Chaudhry
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sorrentino
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fasanya
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McGinn
authors.forename: Krassimir D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Atanassov
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bloom
authors.forename: Mitchell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Price
mesh_terms: D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013124:Spinal Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014193:Trauma Centers