Canadian C-Spine Rule

Determine whether cervical spine imaging can be safely avoided

About

The Canadian C-Spine Rule should only be used using the original enrollment criteria. Enrolment criteria included stable trauma patients, GCS 15, Injury <48 hrs ago, Age >16 years, absence of known vertebral disease, absence of penetrating trauma, and not pregnant. A Sensitivity of 100% and a Specificity of 42.5% were demonstrated in the derivation study.

A comparison study between the NEXUS Criteria and the Canadian C-Spine Rule suggested that the NEXUS criteria are less sensitive (90.7 vs. 95-99%), though there remains some controversy over the results and methodology.

References

Stiell et al.

JAMA: the Journal of the American Medical Association 2001 October 17, 286 (15): 1841-8

Stiell et al.

New England Journal of Medicine 2003 December 25, 349 (26): 2510-8

The Canadian C-Spine Rule calculator is created by QxMD.

By using this site you acknowledge that you have read, understand, and agree to be bound by our terms of use and privacy policy. All content and tools are for educational use only, are not meant to be a substitute for professional advice and should not be used for medical diagnosis and/or medical treatment.

1. Age?

0/9 completed