7.23.2010

CT scans might detect upper spine injuries

HOUSTON -- (July 22, 2010) -- In a study of original CT scans and records of patients who survived severe car accidents, were transferred alive to a Level 1 Trauma Center but subsequently died within 21 days of arrival, experts at Baylor College of Medicine found that 30 percent had injuries to the upper spine and surrounding area which might have been detectable by CT scans before they died. The report appears in The Spine Journal.

"Occipitocervical dissociative injuries are injuries that include any kind of severe injury that includes damage to the soft tissue connecting the vertebral segments of upper cervical spine," said Dr. Peleg Ben-Galim, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at BCM and one of the researchers involved in the study.

Cervical spine injuries are the most common injury associated with car accidents, and Ben-Galim and colleagues sought to find out how often such injuries took place in trauma patients and if doctors could have detected them before a patient died.

source: Baylor College of Medicine

1 comment:

Shans said...

CT scanning has increased and its use has skyrocketed. It is estimated that 62 million CT scans are performed each year in the United States.

Free Coupons