Spinal Motion Restriction: patients younger than ___ years old require spinal motion restriction?

• A. 3
• B. 12
• C. 5
• D. 8

Answer: (C)

Spinal motion restriction focuses on preventing movement of the spine when a cervical spine injury is possible. In young children, several factors make early immobilization especially important: their heads are proportionally larger, their necks are less rigid, and they may not be able to communicate pain or location of injury clearly. These factors mean injuries can be present even with minor trauma and movement during transport could worsen any injury.

Therefore, for patients younger than five years, the protocol commonly requires maintaining spinal immobilization during assessment and transport until spinal clearance is obtained. This helps protect the spinal cord in a child who may not reliably report symptoms or demonstrate clear signs of injury. Once a child is older than five, immobilization isn’t automatically required solely because of age; evaluation of the mechanism, symptoms, and neurological status guides the decision to apply SMR.