Cervical dynamic screening in spinal clearance: now redundant.

Background: The safest and most effective method of early cervical spine clearance in unconscious patients is the subject of intense debate. We hypothesize that helical computed tomography (CT) is a sufficiently sensitive investigation to render dynamic screening redundant.

Method: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 839 trauma patients admitted to the intensive care unit under the orthopedic surgeons from April 1994 to September 2004.