The relationship between face or skull fractures and cervical spine and spinal cord injuries:​ a review of 13,834 patients

Oller, D. W.; Meredith, J. W.; Rutledge, R.; Thomason, M.; Clancy, T.; Moylan, J.; Foil, B.

Affiliations

¹Director, Trauma & Surgical Teaching, Wake Medical Center, Raleigh, N.C.

²Director of Trauma, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston Salem, North Carolina

³Associate Director of Trauma, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

⁴Director of Trauma, Charlotte Memorial Hispital Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina

⁵Director of Trauma, New Hanover Memorial Hospital, Wilmington, North Carolina

⁶Director of Trauma, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

⁷Associate Director Trauma Service, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Greenville, North Carolina

Abstract

A state trauma registry database containing 13,834 patients was evaluated to determine the relationship among 1,062 skull fractures, 1,329 facial fractures, 339 cervical spine injuries, and 299 spinal cord injuries. Categories studied were all trauma patients, motor vehicle crashes, automobile crashes (drivers, passengers, unknown), and belted and unbelted victims. Odds ratios calculated demonstrated that patients with skull and/or facial fractures did not have a higher likelihood of cervical spine or spinal cord injury as has been suggested. It appears that the pathological forces causing each injury are a reflection of the different multiple forces associated with motor vehicle trauma.

Cited Works (2)

Year	Entry
1978	Huelke DF, Mendelsohn RA, States JD, Melvin JW. Cervical fractures and fracture-dislocations sustained without head impact. J Trauma. 1978;18(7):533-538.
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Cited By (4)

Year	Entry
1992	Huelke DF, Mackay GM, Morris A, Bradford M. Cervical fractures and fracture-dislocations without head impacts sustained by restrained occupants. In: 36th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 5-7, 1992; Portland, OR.1-23.
1993	Maag U, Laberge-Nadeau C, Tao X-T. Neck sprains in car crashes: incidence, associations, length of compensation and costs to the insurer. In: 37th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). November 4-6, 1993; San Antonio, TX.15-26.
1996	Huelke DF, Reed RT. Cranial-vertebral fractures and dislocations associated with steering wheel airbag deployment. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 13-16, 1996; Melbourne, Australia.110-115.
1993	Huelke DF, Mackay GM, Morris A, Bradford M. A review of cervical fractures and fracture-dislocations without head impacts sustained by restrained occupants. Accid Anal Prev. December 1993;25(6):731-743.