Cervical spine injury. Diagnosis, prognosis and management

Cervical spine injuries are a common occurrence in multi-trauma patients and should be taken into account when planning further clinical management. This review describes in detail upper and lower cervical spine injuries and introduces the sub-axial injury classification (SLIC) that is based on three components: injury morphology, integrity of the discoligamentous complex and the neurologic status of the patient. If the total SLIC score is <3, non-surgical treatment is recommended. If the total is ≥5, operative treatment is indicated as such a score is associated with instability and probably neurologic deficits. The precise diagnosis of the radiologist, which would include the SLIC classification, should facilitate clinical decision-making about further management. (orig.)