Answer to the Letter to the Editor of A. Malhotra concerning "The utility of magnetic resonance imaging in addition to computed tomography scans in the evaluation of cervical spine injuries: a study of obtunded blunt trauma patients" by B. P. H. Lau, et al. (Eur Spine J [2017]; doi:10.1007/s00586-017-5317-y)

Safe management of acute cervical spine injuries

Cervical spine injuries are frequent and often caused by a blunt trauma mechanism. They can have severe consequences, with a high mortality rate and a high rate of neurological lesions.Diagnosis is a three-step process: 1) risk assessment according to the history and clinical features, guided by a clinical decision rule such as the Canadian C-Spine rule; 2) imaging if needed; 3) classification of the injury according to different classification systems in the different regions of the cervical spine.The urgency of treatment is dependent on the presence of a neurological lesion and/or instability. The treatment strategy depends on the morphological criteria as defined by the classification. Cite this article: EFORT Open Rev 2018;3 DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.3.170076.