Trauma Imaging of the Acute Cervical Spine

Emergency and Trauma in MSK Radiology

Berritto, Daniela MD
Pinto, Antonio MD
Michelin, Paul MD, MSc
Demondion, Xavier MD, PhD
Badr, Sammy MD, MSc

¹Department of Radiology, Private Hospital “Villa dei Fiori,” Acerra, Naples, Italy
²Department of Radiology, Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy
³Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Rouen, Rouen, France
⁴Department of Musculoskeletal Radiology, CHU Lille, Lille, France

Address for correspondence Sammy Badr, MD, MSc, CHU Lille, Service d’imagerie musculosquelettique, rue Émile Laine, 59037 Lille, France, [email protected]

Guest Editor, Giuseppe Guglielmi, MD

Seminars in Musculoskeletal Radiology 21(3):p 184-198, July 2017. | DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1602713

Abstract

Among patients admitted in emergency departments for acute cervical spine trauma, only a few have a confirmed and significant injury requiring surgical intervention. Imaging plays a key role in screening for unstable lesions that can be responsible for devastating neurologic complications or death. The complex anatomy of the cervical spine is associated with a wide spectrum of osseous and ligamentous pathologies. This review focuses on the imaging features of the main cervical spine fractures that can be encountered in emergency radiology.