Cervical spine injury

Redirect to:

• Cervical fractures and dislocations

📊 NEXUS Criteria Calculator [show]

NEXUS Criteria

NEXUS Criteria for C-Spine Imaging

Criteria (ALL must be absent to clear)	Absent	Present
Posterior midline cervical tenderness	1
Focal neurologic deficit	1
Altered level of alertness	1
Intoxication	1
Distracting painful injury	1
Criteria Present	/ 5

Interpretation
0	C-spine can be cleared clinically — All 5 criteria absent. No imaging needed. Sensitivity 99.6% for clinically significant injury.
≥1	Cannot clear clinically — C-spine imaging indicated.

References
Hoffman JR, Mower WR, Wolfson AB, et al. Validity of a set of clinical criteria to rule out injury to the cervical spine in patients with blunt trauma (NEXUS). N Engl J Med. 2000;343(2):94-99. PMID 10891516.