A study assesses long-term neurologic disability in military personnel, suggesting changes in prehospital immobilization practices.
Prehospital SMR with backboards was not associated with long-term neurologic disability among military personnel with spine and/or neck injuries. Taken together with existing evidence, these findings question the routine use of SMR in young, otherwise healthy trauma populations, and support a more selective approach to prehospital immobilization.
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Rittblat et al. (2026) studied this question.
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