ReviewJournal of neurotrauma2014
Prehospital use of cervical collars in trauma patients: a critical review.
Review in Journal of neurotrauma, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 187 citations in OpenAlex.
- Triage tools for detecting cervical spine injury in paediatric trauma patients.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Cervical spine immobilisation following blunt trauma in pre-hospital and emergency care: A systematic review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- The Immo Traffic Light System as a Decision-Making Tool for Prehospital Spinal Immobilization—A Systematic ReviewDeutsches Arzteblatt international · 2022Pooled it
- Evidence for the use of spinal collars in stabilising spinal injuries in the pre-hospital setting in trauma patients: a systematic review.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2022Pooled it
- The Norwegian guidelines for the prehospital management of adult trauma patients with potential spinal injury.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Does turning trauma patients with an unstable spinal injury from the supine to a lateral position increase the risk of neurological deterioration?--A systematic review.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2015Pooled it
- Cervical spine motion during videolaryngoscopic intubation using a Macintosh-style blade with and without the anterior piece of a cervical collar: a randomized controlled trial.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2025Trial
- Effect of 5 different cervical collars on optic nerve sheath diameter: A randomized crossover trial.Medicine · 2020Trial
- Effect of prehospital cervical spine immobilization on mortality and neurological outcome in trauma patients: an observational cohort study with propensity score matching based on the trauma registry of the German trauma society (TraumaRegister DGU®).World journal of emergency surgery : WJES · 2026Observational
- Rigid Cervical Collars after Posterior Cervical Fusion: Do They Improve Outcomes? A Randomized Clinical Trial.Asian journal of neurosurgery · 2026Article
- Article
- Effectiveness and safety of techniques for cervical spine immobilization in mountain rescue.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2026Article
- The Initial Assessment and Management of Cervical Spine Injuries: A Comprehensive Review.Cureus · 2025Review
- Observational
- Improving quality of care in traumatic spinal column/spinal cord injuries (TSC/SCI) in Iran: a policy brief.Spinal cord series and cases · 2024Article
- Comparative evaluation of Artec Leo hand-held scanner and iPad Pro for 3D scanning of cervical and craniofacial data: assessing precision, accuracy, and user experience.3D printing in medicine · 2024Article
- [Transport of severely injured trauma patients in an ambulance with and without a rigid neck orthosis: comparative biomechanical measurements].Die Anaesthesiologie · 2024Article
- Lack of Association between Cervical Spine Injuries and Prehospital Immobilization: From Tradition to Evidence.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Pre-hospital emergency medicine: a spectrum of imaging findings.Emergency radiology · 2024Review
- Where Do We Stand on Cervical Spine Immobilisation? A Questionnaire among Prehospital Staff.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The cervical collar has been routinely used for trauma patients for more than 30 years and is a hallmark of state-of-the-art prehospital trauma care. However, the existing evidence for this practice is limited: Randomized, controlled trials are largely missing, and there are uncertain effects on mortality, neurological injury, and spinal stability. Even more concerning, there is a growing body of evidence and opinion against the use of collars. It has been argued that collars cause more harm than good, and that we should simply stop using them. In this critical review, we discuss the pros and cons of collar use in trauma patients and reflect on how we can move our clinical practice forward. Conclusively, we propose a safe, effective strategy for prehospital spinal immobilization that does not include routine use of collars.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.