Spinal Injury Assessment and Management

📋 Course Outline

1. Spinal injury assessment and red flags
2. Cervical, thoracic and lumbar injuries

📖 1. Spinal injury assessment and red flags

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Red flags: Clinical findings that signal potential serious spinal pathology and require urgent escalation rather than routine treatment.
• Dermatomes: Nerve-distribution areas of skin that help localize neurologic involvement along the spinal cord or nerve roots.
• Myotomes: Specific muscle groups innervated by spinal segments that help localize neurologic involvement along the spinal cord or nerve roots.

📝 Essential Points

• Spinal injury assessment should include dermatomes, myotomes, and reflex testing to support neurologic localization.
• Clinical reasoning for special tests is required as part of the assessment workflow for suspected spinal injury.
• Red flags must be included and matched to the relevant spinal injury concern to guide urgency and next steps.

💡 Memory Hook

Dermatomes = skin map; Myotomes = muscle power; Reflexes = quick circuit check.

📖 2. Cervical, thoracic and lumbar injuries

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions