J Emerg Med
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Review Case Reports
Are Plain Radiographs Sufficient to Exclude Cervical Spine Injuries in Low-Risk Adults?
The routine use of clinical decision rules and three-view plain radiography to clear the cervical spine in blunt trauma patients has been recently called into question. ⋯ The consistently poor performance of plain radiographs to rule out cervical spine injury in adult blunt trauma victims is concerning. Large, rigorously performed prospective trials focusing on low- or low/moderate-risk patients will be needed to truly define the utility of plain radiographs of the cervical spine in blunt trauma.