Pediatric cervical spine clearance: A review and understanding of the concepts

Spinal injuries to children account for somewhere between 1% and 10% of all spinal trauma. Evaluations of cervical spine injuries required multidisciplinary approach for definitive management. Knowing which patients are at highest risk for injuries will undoubtedly influence decisions on how aggressively to pursue a potential cervical spine injury. This can be achieved by establishing a multidisciplinary team that provides standards for cervical spine immobilization, assessment, and clearance. Implementation of such guidelines will decrease time for cervical spine clearance and incidence of missed injuries. In this article different aspect of cervical spine injuries and cervical spine clearance protocols are reviewed.