Spinal Imobilization In Emergency Medical Services

Spinal injuries can happen to anyone. There are less than 200,000 cases in the US each year, and most of the time this injury can not be completely cured. The spinal cord is about 18 inches long, it is a bundle of nerves which contains neurons that carry signals between the brain and body. The spinal cord has sections, C1-C8, T1-T12, L1-L5, the sacrum, and the coccyx. The C stands for Cervical, the T for Thoracic, and the L stands for Lumbar. Injuring different sections signifies different problems and diagnosis. The spinal cord controls the body. It controls sensory messages which include sense of touch, pain, pressure, temperature, and body position. It controls motor messages which tell the body what to do. For example, legs, arms, hands,

Injuries can happen to anyone, anywhere. Injuries affect people’s lives as they limit their choices, temporarily or permanently. Most injuries are not preventable, because most happen unexpectedly. For example, spinal cord injuries can occur if a person falls abruptly on his/her back and shatters their spinal cord. Although injuries cannot be prevented, they can be healed. New technologies are under development to solve major injuries, which do not yet have a cure. One of these major injuries is a spinal cord injury.

In beginning of a her career she is a licensed physical therapist in ROHC and provided physical therapy treatment and her goal is to prevent work related musculoskeletal injuries. She is experienced over 15 years in treating orthopedic injuries caused by occupation. As a Pilates instructor she used to train rehabilitation professionals. She is expert in using neck and back stabilizing techniques on patients and ergonomic clients. She is now Director of Physical Therapy department at Nova Pain and Rehabilitation. Her quest in field of ergonomics made her to establish an ergonomic evaluating office Ergo-RX and provides custom furnishings to the clients. As an ergonomist and physical therapist, Jeannie incorporates her physical therapy treatment and prevention of injuries to the clients and patients she is serving

Spinal cord injuries can occur in many different ways but are classified as any damage that causes a change in function of the spinal cord for a temporary or permanent time period. Both experiments are based on the aftermath effects of a

Vaccaro, Alexander R., Michael Fehlings, and Marcel F. Dvorak. Spine and Spinal Cord Trauma: Evidence-based Management. New York: Thieme, 2011. Print.

A Spinal cord injury is a harm to one or all parts of the spinal cord. A spinal cord injury can affect many aspects of a person’s life such as making him weak and unable to perform daily activities. There are two factors that matter when it comes to spinal cord injury: the part of the spinal cord that is affected and the seriousness of the injury. Moreover, the seriousness of a spinal cord disease is distinguished by two terns: complete and incomplete. A spinal cord injury is complete, when it’s hard or become impossible to move the lowest part of the injured spinal cord. On the other hand, a spinal cord injury is incomplete, when it still possible to move the lowest part of your spinal cord even after an injury. Furthermore,

Once immobilized patients are transported to a higher level of care where they remain immobilized until cleared by a physician typically with the use of x-ray and magnetic resonance imaging. Substantial evidence that this prolonged immobilization on a spine board has potentially negative consequences and may lead to major discomfort for the patient. Various studies have cited the development of pressure sores, inadequate spinal support (in case of dislocated spinal fractures), pain and discomfort, compromised respiratory status, and poor quality of radiologic imaging (Lubbert, Schram,& Leenen, 2005). Other studies add to growing list of negative effects related to spinal immobilization. Included in this list is that immobilized patients are

However, this statistically significant decrease is not clinically significant as the maximum decrease in MAP below the baseline values was less than 30%. The latter is less the 33% suggested by Mikko (2009) as the point below which hypotension is clinically significant and necessitates treatment. When the two groups were compared to each other, the maximum decrease in the MAP was more in the CEA group and this statistically significant. This is consistent with the findings from other studies done by Sutter and colleagues (1989) as well as Denny and Selander (1998) where the decrease in blood pressures was less in CSA so that cardiovascular stability was easily achieved. The height of the block is best controlled by titration of intermittent injections of a small volume of local anesthetic through the catheter with assessment of block level after each injection, so CSA (with titration by intermittent injections of small volumes of local anesthetic) seems to be a valuable method for anesthetic management of patients who either will not tolerate the administration of large amount of fluids or in whom the use of sympathomimetic for correction of spinal block induced hypotension should be avoided (Schnider et al, 1993). In the present study, there were no statistical significant in

DOI: 09/04/2009. This is a 46- year-old female home attendant who sustained injury when she slipped on wet floor while cleaning the bathroom. Per OMNI, she was diagnosed with lumbar sprain and fractured right rib. The patient underwent an L4-5 and L5-S1 transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion with PEEK spacer x 2 with local allograft, posterior spinal fusion with segmental instrumentation and unilateral laminectomy on the left per operative report dated 10/21/13.

Applications & Benefits: Spinal decompression is used to treat a range of painful conditions, including sciatica, spinal stenosis, herniated discs, leg pain, spinal arthritis, and degenerative disc

Surgical decompression potentially relieves many symptoms caused by pressure and compression of the spinal cord [120]. The timing of early decompression remains controversial as it is defined differently in animals and human [120]. Fehling et al. suggested that performing an early decompression (6-8 h) in animals enhanced neurological recovery [121]. Notwithstanding, sub-acute surgical decompressions in human patients (24-72 h) have failed to produce satisfactory results due to irreversible tissue damage experienced [30,122].

A review of the literature regarding spinal immobilisation has been undertaken using databases for PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, OVID and Cochrane EBM. Reviews were electronically searched using the subject headings “spinal injuries”, “spinal immobilisation” and “management of spinal injuries”. The results generated by the search were limited to English language articles and reviewed for relevance to the topic. The aim of this literature review is to compare and contrast the views on spinal immobilisation and to achieve a better knowledge of evidence based practice.

Quadriplegia is a very complex, life-threatening condition that requires immediate attention after initial injury. After arriving at the hospital, focus on survival is key by monitoring the airway. Respiratory support may be required via mechanical ventilation through a noninvasive intermittent positive pressure ventilator or an invasive tracheostomy if the injury has affected the individual’s diaphragm. After the airway is patent, the regaining of vertebral alignment and immobilization of the spinal fracture site is implemented to reduce further damage to the spinal cord. Diagnosing a SCI is based on a physical examination, neurological evaluation, and diagnostic imaging to assess the extent of damage. Stabilization of the fracture

Another study that is supportive of the hypothesis that spinal immobilization is detrimental to trauma victims examines the efficacy of spinal immobilization practices during extrication. In a high tech proof of concept study conducted by Dixon, O’Halloran, Hannigan, Keenan, & Cummins, it is concluded that current evidence base for spinal immobilization techniques during prehospital extrication is poor. They further emphasize that traditional prehospital extrication techniques used by the emergency medical services (EMS) have evolved through pragmatism rather than being introduced following evidence-based scientific research. To prove this they used high speed cameras and biomechanical markers to measure the range and degree of motion that

placing screw in the lumbar spine and the concave side of the spine.  If not complications