The effect of spinal immobilization on healthy volunteers.
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of standard spinal immobilization on a group of healthy volunteers with respect to induced pain and discomfort. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: University teaching hospital. TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-one healthy volunteers with no history of back disease. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects were placed in standard backboard immobilization for a 30-minute period. Number and severity of immediate and delayed symptoms were determined. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: One hundred percent of subjects developed pain within the immediate observation period. Occipital headache and sacral, lumbar, and mandibular pain were the most frequent symptoms. Fifty-five percent of subjects graded their symptoms as moderate to severe. Twenty-nine percent of subjects developed additional symptoms over the next 48 hours. CONCLUSION: Standard spinal immobilization may be a cause of pain in an otherwise healthy subject.