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Orthopaedics

Cervical Spine Trauma

Built from Orthopedic Trauma Essentials

The first 25 slides of Cervical Spine Trauma
The first 25 slides, exactly as they appear. The full deck has 69 content slides.

What’s inside

7 sections · 69 slides

  1. 01

    Overview

    • What this topic answers
    • The four questions at a glance

    2 slides

  2. 02

    The injured neck

    What the spine does, what breaks it, and why getting the diagnosis right early matters

    • Why an injured neck is a serious problem
    • Three jobs the spine does at once
    • A vertebral injury attacks all three jobs
    • Bones of the upper neck
    • The neck seen from the side
    • Inside the cable: the spinal cord
    • Cross-section of the spinal cord
    • The injury does not stop at the moment of impact
    • How the damage spreads
    • Holding the neck still
    • Neck supported before transfer

    11 slides

  3. 03

    Choosing the first scan

    Is CT of the cervical spine enough on its own, or must an MRI follow even when the CT looks normal?

    • The question being argued
    • Why CT goes first
    • A fracture of the second neck bone on CT
    • What that CT picture teaches
    • Where CT falls short
    • The radiation problem
    • The patient who cannot be examined
    • What MRI adds
    • Two scans, two strengths
    • When to add the MRI
    • Bottom line on imaging

    11 slides

  4. 04

    Steroids after spinal cord injury

    Why high-dose methylprednisolone was tried, what the trials found, and why practice has moved on

    • The idea behind giving steroids
    • Which steroid, and why that one
    • Three trials that defined the debate
    • What the NASCIS trials were
    • NASCIS I: how much steroid?
    • NASCIS II: what it tested
    • NASCIS II: what it found
    • NASCIS III: what it tested
    • NASCIS III: what it found
    • The same table in one place
    • Studies summarizing the effectiveness of methylprednisolone in neurological improvement for patients with acute spinal cord Injuries — what each study did
    • Studies summarizing the effectiveness of methylprednisolone in neurological improvement for patients with acute spinal cord Injuries — what each study found
    • What happened after the trials
    • Benefit claimed against harm measured
    • Bottom line on steroids

    15 slides

  5. 05

    When to operate

    Early decompression means surgery within 24 hours — but does even faster mean even better?

    • Why the clock matters
    • What early decompression means
    • STASCIS: the anchor trial
    • Pushing the clock earlier: two opposite results
    • Recent pooled evidence
    • The time windows that have been studied
    • Bottom line on timing

    7 slides

  6. 06

    Central cord syndrome without a fracture

    When the cord is injured but no bone is broken, is an operation better than waiting?

    • The injury with no broken bone
    • Where the cord is squeezed
    • What is normally recommended
    • Why the controversy exists
    • The case for waiting: the early reports
    • Two more non-surgical series
    • What that historical evidence shows
    • The case for operating
    • Surgery in the no-fracture group
    • Zhou et al.: early surgery versus the rest
    • Qin and Yelamarthy: the counterweight
    • Two acceptable paths
    • Bottom line on central cord syndrome

    13 slides

  7. 07

    Putting it together

    Four questions, four bottom lines

    • The four answers on one slide
    • What is still unresolved
    • Five things to carry away
    • References
    • References (continued)
    • References (continued)
    • References (continued)
    • References (continued)
    • References (continued)
    • Orthopedic Trauma Essentials 2026

    10 slides