ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2025
Comparison of the immobilizing effect of soft, semi-rigid and rigid neck orthoses.
Article 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, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Impact of subaxial cervical spine surgeries on patients' head-cervical spine mobility: measurement with CROM device.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 · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
purposeCervical orthoses are widely used in the management of cervical spine (c-spine) injuries, serving to limit motion, alleviate pain, and enhance patient security. While extensive research has examined soft and rigid cervical braces, data on semi-rigid braces, such as the PDC collar, remain scarce. This study aims to compare the immobilizing effects of a semi-rigid cervical orthosis to those of a soft and a rigid orthosis on c-spine mobility in healthy individuals.
methodsIn a prospective study, 20 healthy participants (mean age 28.0 ± 6.0 years) underwent motion analysis using a 3D camera system under four conditions: without an orthosis and while wearing a soft, semi-rigid, and rigid orthosis. Maximum cervical range of motion (ROM) was measured during flexion/extension, lateral flexion, and axial rotation. The maximum active ROM was determined for each orthosis. After testing for normal distribution (Shapiro-Wilk test), repeated measures ANOVA with post-hoc Bonferroni-corrected t-tests was used for pairwise comparison of absolute ROM across orthoses.
resultsAll orthoses significantly restricted ROM compared to the unrestricted state (p < 0.01). Flexion/extension was the most restricted movement across all orthoses. The rigid orthosis provided the greatest restriction in all three movement directions, significantly reducing flexion/extension to 27.5° from an unrestricted ROM of 107.3° (p < 0.01). It also restricted rotation and lateral flexion significantly more than the semi-rigid and soft orthoses (p < 0.01). The semi-rigid orthosis significantly reduced flexion/extension compared to the soft collar (39.1° vs. 48.1°, p < 0.01), while no significant differences were observed between the two in rotation or lateral flexion.
conclusionThe semi-rigid orthosis effectively limits c-spine mobility, particularly in flexion/extension, offering an intermediate option between soft and rigid braces. Its use may balance immobilization needs and patient comfort in cases requiring moderate motion restriction without increased complication risks.
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