The effects of spinal immobilization at 20° on intracranial pressure

In this study, it was aimed to evaluate whether spinal immobilization at 20°, instead of the traditional 0°, affects intracranial pressure (ICP) via the ultrasonographic (USG) measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD).

140 healthy, adult, non-smoking volunteers who had no acute or chronic diseases were included this study. Volunteers were randomly divided into two groups; performed spinal immobilization at 0° (Group 1) and at 20° (Group 2). After spinal immobilization (at 0 or 20°), measurements of ONSD were performed at 0, 30, and 60 min in an immobilized position.

When evaluating the change in ONSD over time (at 30 and 60 min) as compared to basal measurements at 0 min, it was found that the ONSD values of both sides (the right and left eyes) were significantly increased in Group 1 and Group 2. For Groups 1 and 2, these differences existed both between 0 and 30 min and between 30 and 60 min. In addition, in this study, the amounts of increase in the ONSD measurements from 0 to 30 min and from 30 to 60 min (ΔONSD0-30 min and ΔONSD30-60 min) in both groups were compared. The results showed that there was no significant difference between Group 1 and Group 2 in terms of ΔONSD measurements.

Spinal immobilization at 0° as a part of routine trauma management increased ONSD and thus ICP. Secondly, we found that similar to immobilization at 0°, spinal immobilization at 20° increased ONSD.