Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31214856›Full record

SynthesisEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2019

The role of non-rigid cervical collar in pain relief and functional restoration after whiplash injury: a systematic review and a pooled analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Luca Ricciardi, Vito Stifano, Sonia D'Arrigo, Filippo Maria Polli, Alessandro Olivi, Carmelo Lucio Sturiale

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in 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, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The role of cervical collar in functional restoration and fusion after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion without plating on single or double levels: a systematic review and meta-analysis.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 · 2020
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Letter to the Editor concerning "The role of non-rigid cervical collar in pain relief and functional restoration after whiplash injury: a systematic review and a pooled analysis of randomized controlled trials" by Ricciardi L, et al. (Eur Spine J; [2019] 28:1821-1828).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 · 2020
    Article
  6. Article
  7. The Michel Benoist and Robert Mulholland yearly European spine journal review: a survey of the "surgical and research" articles in European spine journal, 2019.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 · 2020
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Luca RicciardiDepartments of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli - IRCCS, Rome, Italy. ricciardi.lu@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5110-8386
Vito StifanoDepartments of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli - IRCCS, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5509-9592
Sonia D'ArrigoDepartments of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli - IRCCS, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6740-3195
Filippo Maria PolliDepartments of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli - IRCCS, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7737-8824
Alessandro OliviDepartments of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli - IRCCS, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4489-7564
Carmelo Lucio SturialeDepartments of Neurosurgery, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli - IRCCS, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4080-2492
Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic · ITUniversità Cattolica del Sacro Cuore · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeWhiplash injury (WI) represents a common diagnosis at every emergency department. Several investigations have been conducted to compare the different medical managements for non-surgical cases. However, the role of the immobilization with a non-rigid cervical collar (nRCC) for pain management and range of motion (RoM) preservation has not been completely clarified.

methodsWe performed a systematic review of the randomized control trials (RCTs) and a pooled analysis in order to investigate the role of the nRCC for pain management, scored through the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the RoM, by comparing the use of a nRCC (for 1-2 weeks) with a non-immobilization protocols, regardless of the association with physical therapy (PhT). Only patients with whiplash-associated disorders grade I-II were included. Due to a certain heterogeneity across the RCTs, follow-up period time range resetting was necessary in order to pool the data.

resultsA total of 141 papers were reviewed; 6 of them matched the inclusion criteria and were admitted to the final study. Pooled analysis showed that nRCC does not improve the outcome in terms of VAS score and RoM trends along the follow-up. Moreover, VAS and RoM trends seem to further improve at long-term follow-up in non-immobilization associated with PhT group.

conclusionsThis pooled analysis of the available RCTs shows the absence of an advantage of the immobilization protocol with a nRCC after a WI. On the contrary, non-immobilization protocols show an overall better trend of pain relief and neck mobility recovery, regardless of the association of PhT. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

Indexed as

BracesHumansNeckNeck PainPain ManagementRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRange of Motion, ArticularTreatment OutcomeWhiplash InjuriesCervical collarCervical spinePain managementTraumaWhiplash

Identifiers

PMID31214856
OpenAlexW2952215689

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.