Cineradiography of the braced normal cervical spine. A comparative study of five commonly used cervical orthoses

Five orthotic devices were selected for a study of their effectiveness in immobilizing the cervical spine. These orthoses were fitted to subjects with a normal range of motion of the cervical spine. Motion pictures were made from a lateral view while the patient actively flexed and extended his cervical spine as well as from the frontal view with the patient rotating to each side and bending to each side. The soft cervical collar offers very little immobilization. The firm plastic Thomas collar restricts about 75 per cent of flexion-extension, rotation and lateral bending. The four-poster orthosis gave 80 to 85 per cent restriction of flexion-extension and lateral bending but only restricted 60 per cent of rotation. The long two-poster cervical orthosis caused 90 to 95 per cent restriction of all motions. The Guilford two-poster cervical orthosis restricted 90 per cent of all motions.