ArticleEuropean radiology2018
Utility of MRI for cervical spine clearance in blunt trauma patients after a negative CT.
Article in European radiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Injuries of the upper cervical spine-how can instability be identified?International orthopaedics · 2020Pooled it
- Cervical Collar in Adult Trauma: Evidence, Controversies, and Clinical Decision-Making.Orthopedic research and reviews · 2026Review
- Diagnostic yield and number needed to screen for cervical and concomitant spinal injuries in geriatric head trauma.Brain & spine · 2026Article
- Utility of Emergent Spine MRI in the Emergency Department.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Letter to the Editor Re "Cervical spine injury: clinical and medico‑legal overview".La Radiologia medica · 2023Article
- Accuracy of ct evaluation for cervical spine clearance in the ground level fall population - a retrospective cohort study.BMC emergency medicine · 2022Article
- Article
- Clinical significance of "positive" cervical spine MRI findings following a negative CT.Emergency radiology · 2022Article
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Cervical Spine Trauma: More Than Soft Tissue Illustration.Cureus · 2022Article
- Pathoanatomy, biomechanics, and treatment of upper cervical ligamentous instability: A literature review.Orthopedic reviews · 2022Review
- Cervical Spine Injuries in Older Patients with Falls Found on Magnetic Resonance Imaging After Computed Tomography.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2021Observational
- Impact of MRI to clear the cervical spine after a negative CT for suspected spine trauma.Emergency radiology · 2021Article
- Regional and experiential differences in surgeon preference for the treatment of cervical facet injuries: a case study survey with the AO Spine Cervical Classification Validation Group.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2021Article
- [Guideline-conform diagnostics for injuries of the subaxial cervical spine].Der Unfallchirurg · 2020Article
- Cervical spine clearance after blunt trauma: current state of the art.EFORT open reviews · 2020Review
- Spectrum of diagnostic errors in cervical spine trauma imaging and their clinical significance.Emergency radiology · 2019Article
- Radiologic utility of the Gehweiler and AO spine classification systems for C1 Trauma: A retrospective review from a Level I trauma center.Journal of craniovertebral junction & spineArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo determine the utility of cervical spine MRI in blunt trauma evaluation for instability after a negative non-contrast cervical spine CT.
methodsA review of medical records identified all adult patients with blunt trauma who underwent CT cervical spine followed by MRI within 48 h over a 33-month period. Utility of subsequent MRI was assessed in terms of findings and impact on outcome.
resultsA total of 1,271 patients with blunt cervical spine trauma underwent both cervical spine CT and MRI within 48 h; 1,080 patients were included in the study analysis. Sixty-six percent of patients with a CT cervical spine study had a negative study. Of these, the subsequent cervical spine MRI had positive findings in 20.9%; 92.6% had stable ligamentous or osseous injuries, 6.0% had unstable injuries and 1.3% had potentially unstable injuries. For unstable injury, the NPV for CT was 98.5%. In all 712 patients undergoing both CT and MRI, only 1.5% had unstable injuries, and only 0.42% had significant change in management.
conclusionsMRI for blunt trauma evaluation remains not infrequent at our institution. MRI may have utility only in certain patients with persistent abnormal neurological examination. KEY POINTS: • MRI has limited utility after negative cervical CT in blunt trauma. • MRI is frequently positive for non-specific soft-tissue injury. • Unstable injury missed on CT is infrequent.
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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.