Management
The possibility of an injury of the cervical spine should be suspected in all
patients with a significant history of trauma. In these cases no airway
manoeuvres should involve movement of the neck. Immediate manual
cervical spine immobilisation should be done by a designated team
member until the primary survey has been completed and an immobilizing
device can be applied.
A rigid cervical collar can be applied to assist with spinal immobilisation
but it should not delay the management of the airway. The cervical collar
alone does not provide complete stabilisation of the cervical spine.