The authors looked at 51 patients intubated with both anterior and posterior cervical collar in place and measured the degree of movement within the spine during intubation. They repeated this process in 51 additional patients with just the posterior portion of the collar in place. They found there was one degree of difference in movement between the two groups. This adds evidence that removing the anterior portion of the collar is safe when intubating trauma patients.
References
Jo, WY., Choi, JH., Kim, J. et al. Cervical spine motion during videolaryngoscopic intubation using a Macintosh-style blade with and without the anterior piece of a cervical collar: a randomized controlled trial. Can J Anesth/J Can Anesth (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12630-024-02849-4
