• Aldo Gonzalez-Beicos and Diego B Nunez.
• Radiology Department, Hospital of Saint Raphael, Yale University School of Medicine, 1450 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06511, USA. agonzalezbeicos@gmail.com
• Semin. Ultrasound CT MR. 2009 Jun 1; 30 (3): 159-67.

AbstractClearing the cervical spine has relied on individual and center-based experience. Not long ago, the screening modality of choice was radiography. The evidence now clearly supports multidetector computed tomography as the modality of choice for evaluating cervical spine trauma because of its higher accuracy and efficiency compared to radiography. Furthermore, clinical criteria have been validated to assess for cervical spine injuries and determine the need for imaging evaluation based on patient risk. Once imaging is deemed necessary to exclude cervical spine injury based on clinical predictors, multidetector computed tomography becomes the accepted modality of choice, providing accurate and rapid assessment and improving the understanding of injury patterns and stability determinants.

12 keywords...

hide…