Lecture 06: Cervical Spine

Question 1

Cervical spine bony anatomy

Answer 1

• C1-C7
• atlas (C1) and axis (C2) are atypical
• atlas has no body and rotates around the dens of the axis

Question 2

How is the articulation between C2-C3 adn the rest of the typical cervical vertebrae?

Answer 2

• facets are in a plane that points toward the eye in the uppers and opposite shoulder for lower segments
• important for manipulative force vectors

Question 3

What are 4 lines you should look for on Xray to check for good alignment of C spine?

Answer 3

• anterior vertebral line (front on body)
• posterior vertebral line (back of body)
• spinolaminar line (on the lamina–>look for fractures)
• posterior spinout line (on SP–> look for loss fo lordosis)

Question 4

Why would you want to use an oblique view to look at the C spine?

Answer 4

• important for someone who might have ridiculopathy
• look for impringment and compressions of spinal nerves

*if see something narrowing this area may need MRI for soft tissue OR CT for bone