Prehospital clinical clearance of the cervical spine: a prospective study

Physician clinical clearance of the cervical spine after blunt trauma is practiced in many trauma centers. Prehospital clinical clearance of the cervical spine (c-spine) performed by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel can decrease cost, improve patient comfort, decrease complications, and decrease prehospital time. The purpose of this study was to assess whether EMS personnel can effectively clinically clear the c-spine of injury in the prehospital setting. All paramedics from a single urban fire department were trained in clinical clearance of the c-spine. During the 14-month period from January 2008 through March 2009, clinical examination of the c-spine was performed by paramedics on blunt trauma patients in the prehospital setting. Paramedics immobilized the c-spine and delivered the patients to the University of South Alabama Medical Center. After trauma center arrival, paramedics documented their clinical examination of the c-spine in a computerized data collection form. Paramedic clinical findings were compared with trauma surgeon clinical examination findings and computed tomographic findings of the c-spine. All patients had prehospital Glasgow Coma Score 14 or greater. Patients were not excluded for distracting injuries. One hundred ninety-three blunt trauma patients were entered. Sixty-five (34%) c-spines were clinically cleared by EMS. There were no known missed injuries in this patient group. Eight (6%) patients who were not clinically cleared by EMS were diagnosed with c-spine injury. Trauma surgeons clinically cleared 135 (70%) of the patients with no known missed injury. EMS personnel in the prehospital setting may reliably and effectively perform clinical clearance of the c-spine. Further prospective study for prehospital c-spine clinical clearance is warranted.