Julie C Leonard, Monica Harding, Lawrence J Cook, Jeffrey R Leonard, Kathleen M Adelgais, Fahd A Ahmad, Lorin R Browne, Rebecca K Burger, Pradip P Chaudhari, Daniel J Corwin, Nicolaus W Glomb, Lois K Lee, Sylvia Owusu-Ansah, Lauren C Riney, Alexander J Rogers, Daniel M Rubalcava, Robert E Sapien, Matthew A Szadkowski, Leah Tzimenatos, Caleb E Ward, Kenneth Yen, Nathan Kuppermann
BACKGROUND: Cervical spine injuries in children are uncommon but potentially devastating; however, indiscriminate neck imaging after trauma unnecessarily exposes children to ionising radiation. The aim of this study was to derive and validate a paediatric clinical prediction rule that can be incorporated into an algorithm to guide radiographic screening for cervical spine injury among children in the emergency department. METHODS: In this prospective observational cohort study, we screened children aged 0-17 years presenting with known or suspected blunt trauma at 18 specialised children's emergency departments in hospitals in the USA affiliated with the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN)...
June 3, 2024: Lancet Child & Adolescent Health