Abstract
Because of its high flexibility, the cervical spine is prone to injury during accidents. The most common injury mechanisms are traffic accidents, falls and strangulations. The injuries may be mere soft tissue injuries, ligamentous or osseous or a combination of all. The prognosis of cervical spine injuries is determined by concomitant spinal cord injuries or by injuries of the nerve roots. The incidence in adults is estimated between 3 and 4.5% and in children below 1 %. The incidence of injuries without spinal cord injury (SCI) is about 3 %. SCI without concomitant fractures are found in about 0.7 %. The incidence of cervical spine injuries in polytraumatized patients is estimated to be about 6 %. Mortality is about 15 % and morbidity about 45–60 %. The most common cause for cervical spine injuries are traffic accidents in modern industrial nations. While the frequency of traffic accidents decreases, the frequency of cervical spine injuries in older people increases.
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Setzer, M. (2015). Spinal Trauma. In: Hattingen, E., Weidauer, S., Setzer, M., Klein, J., Vrionis, F. (eds) Diseases of the Spinal Cord. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54209-1_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54209-1_12
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