Canadian C-Spine Rule

Why did you develop the Canadian C-Spine Rule?

My interest was piqued through a paper that demonstrated there is a gross inefficiency and amazing variation in image ordering between teaching hospitals and hospitals alike. My intent was the provide sensible decision rules developed by emergency physicians, for use by emergency personnel.

Any Pearls/Pitfalls/Tips?

The CCR is only intended for use with alert and stable trauma patients with neck pain; therefore, patients over the age of 65 with neck pain do not necessarily require imaging.

Ian Stiell, MD, MSc, FRCPC, is Professor and Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa; Distinguished Professor and University Health Research Chair, University of Ottawa; Senior Scientist, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; and Emergency Physician, The Ottawa Hospital. He is internationally recognized for his research in emergency medicine with a focus on the development of clinical decision rules and the conduct of clinical trials involving acutely ill and injured patients treated by prehospital services and in emergency departments. He is best known for the development of the Ottawa Ankle Rule, the Canadian C-Spine Rule, and Canadian CT Head Rule and as the Principal Investigator for the landmark OPALS Studies for prehospital care. Dr. Stiell is the Principal Investigator for 1 of 3 Canadian sites in the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) which is funded by CIHR, NIH, HSFC, AHA, and National Defence Canada. Dr. Stiell is a Member of the Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academies of Science.

To read more about Dr. Stiell's work, visit his website.