Unwitnessed fall

[eprex]

The joy about medicine, and medicine in the real world, is that nearly everything is a gray area.

Do you have a justification for why you'd attempt to realign? What's the gain?

 

[usalsfyre]

Ummm I hate to be a buzz kill, but....if you had a "significantly angulated neck injury" you'd take out the cord. Period. Look at the way it's structured.

 

[eprex]

Ummm I hate to be a buzz kill, but....if you had a "significantly angulated neck injury" you'd take out the cord. Period. Look at the way it's structured.

I'm unsure if what you mean. Can you reiterate?

 

[Chris07]

He's saying that because of the way the spinal cord runs through the vertebrae, a person with an angulated neck, as described by the OP, would definitely have a severed spinal cord....implying that no matter what you do for this guy, he's going to be paralyzed.

 

[VFlutter]

Ummm I hate to be a buzz kill, but....if you had a "significantly angulated neck injury" you'd take out the cord. Period. Look at the way it's structured.

Ya pretty much. However reducing the neck back to a neutral position *may* blunt the progressive inflammation which *could* potentially save some function. Not very likely

 

[eprex]

Or it could kill them, no?

Which still convinces me not to attempt to realign.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Do you have a justification for why you'd attempt to realign? What's the gain?

Easier airway management is a big one. Guidelines also so to attempt realignment unless met by resistance or exacerbation of pain but I'm not going to get into a protocol argument.

A SCI at that level is, more than likely, going to compromise the patients ability to control their diaphragm and thus their ability to breathe so you're probably going to have to do it for them.

Phrenic nerve exits at C3-4 level if I'm no mistaken.