J Trauma
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Meta Analysis
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the clearance of the cervical spine in blunt trauma: a meta-analysis.
There is a subset of blunt trauma patients that present with symptoms suspicious for cervical spine injury or with unreliable clinical exams whose initial plain radiographs or cervical computed tomography (CT) scan are negative. Uncertainty remains, however, because no gold standard has been established for definitively clearing the cervical spine of injury in this patient cohort. Individual studies have detailed the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in this patient population without conclusive results. ⋯ A magnetic resonance image that did not disclose anything abnormal can conclusively exclude cervical spine injury and is established as a gold standard for clearing the cervical spine in a clinically suspicious or unevaluatable blunt trauma patient. An accurate number of false positive MRI scans cannot be determined.