Trial · NCT02786966

A Pragmatic Evaluation of the Canadian C-Spine Rule by Paramedics

NCT02786966, Not applicable, Completed, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; results first posted 2025-10-20

3 sourcestrials-2026-11-12-0.5.0

Cite this record

ConductScience Library. A Pragmatic Evaluation of the Canadian C-Spine Rule by Paramedics. Trials, record NCT02786966. Release trials-2026-11-12-0.5.0, 12 Nov 2026. https://conductscience.org/library/trials/NCT02786966

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Trial

As registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, in the graph's capture of the registry.

Title: A Pragmatic Evaluation of the Canadian C-Spine Rule by Paramedics
NCT number: NCT02786966
Status: Completed
Phases: Not applicable
Enrollment: 3,646 participants, actual
Lead sponsor: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Conditions: Neck Injuries
Interventions: Canadian C-Spine Rule
First posted: 2016-06-01
Last updated: 2025-10-20
Results first posted: 2025-10-20

Source ClinicalTrials.gov

Registered outcomes13

Each outcome the trial registered, primary first, in ClinicalTrials.gov's words.

List	Outcome	Time frame	Description
Primary	Proportion of Patients Transported With Spinal Immobilization	Through study completion.
Primary	Proportion of Patients Feeling Uncomfortable	At study completion	Measured on an ordinal scale from 1 to 10, with higher values indicating increasing discomfort. Values \>=5 were considered to indicate discomfort.
Other	Proportion of Patients With a Pain Score </= 5/10	At study completion	Measured on a 10-point ordinal scale with increasing values indicating greater pain.
Other	Time From Paramedic Arrival at Patient Side to ED Discharge or Admission to Hospital	At time of initial injury	Time from paramedic arrival at patient side to ED discharge or admission to hospital
Other	Radiation Exposure	30 days from initial injury	radiation exposure from diagnostic imaging tests of the spine conducted at initial visit or within 30 days of the initial visit
Other	Number of Skin Pressure Injuries	through study completion (one year)
Other	Number of Missed Cervical Spine Injuries	through study completion (one year)
Other	Paramedic Field Time (Arrival at Patient Side Until Departure for Hospital)	at time of initial injury	arrival at patient side until departure for hospital
Other	Paramedic Hospital Time	through study completion (one year)	from arrival at emergency department to transfer of care to emergency department staff
Other	Subsequent Emergency Department Visits or Hospital Admissions	through study completion (one year)	within 30 days of initial visit

1 to 10 of 13Source ClinicalTrials.gov

See all 13 registered outcomes

Outcomes13

Each outcome the trial posted results for, in ClinicalTrials.gov's words.

Type	Outcome	Time frame	Units	Measured as
PRIMARY	Proportion of Patients Transported With Spinal Immobilization	Through study completion.	Participants	COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS
PRIMARY	Proportion of Patients Feeling Uncomfortable	At study completion	Participants	COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS
OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED	Proportion of Patients With a Pain Score </= 5/10	At study completion	Participants	COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS
OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED	Time From Paramedic Arrival at Patient Side to ED Discharge or Admission to Hospital	At time of initial injury
OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED	Radiation Exposure	30 days from initial injury
OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED	Number of Skin Pressure Injuries	through study completion (one year)
OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED	Number of Missed Cervical Spine Injuries	through study completion (one year)
OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED	Paramedic Field Time (Arrival at Patient Side Until Departure for Hospital)	at time of initial injury
OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED	Paramedic Hospital Time	through study completion (one year)
OTHER_PRE_SPECIFIED	Subsequent Emergency Department Visits or Hospital Admissions	through study completion (one year)

1 to 10 of 13Source ClinicalTrials.gov

See all 13 outcomes

Results by group6

Each measurement the trial posted, group by group, in the words and numbers it posted.

Outcome	Group	Value	Units
Proportion of Patients Transported With Spinal Immobilization	Control Phase (Usual Care)	1334	Participants
Proportion of Patients Transported With Spinal Immobilization	Canadian C-Spine Rule	813	Participants
Proportion of Patients Feeling Uncomfortable	Control Phase (Usual Care)	883	Participants
Proportion of Patients Feeling Uncomfortable	Canadian C-Spine Rule	654	Participants
Proportion of Patients With a Pain Score </= 5/10	Control Phase (Usual Care)	866	Participants
Proportion of Patients With a Pain Score </= 5/10	Canadian C-Spine Rule	736	Participants

Source ClinicalTrials.gov

Participant flow27

How many started, completed or left each group, period by period.

Period	Milestone	Group	Participants	Units counted
Step 1: Months 1-3	STARTED	Sequence 1: Usual Care Months 1-3, Canadian C-Spine Rule Months 4-9	351	4
Step 1: Months 1-3	STARTED	Sequence 2: Usual Care Months 1-6, Canadian C-Spine Rule Months 7-9	285	4
Step 1: Months 1-3	STARTED	Sequence 3: Usual Care Months 1-9	169	3
Step 1: Months 1-3	COMPLETED	Sequence 1: Usual Care Months 1-3, Canadian C-Spine Rule Months 4-9	351	4
Step 1: Months 1-3	COMPLETED	Sequence 2: Usual Care Months 1-6, Canadian C-Spine Rule Months 7-9	285	4
Step 1: Months 1-3	COMPLETED	Sequence 3: Usual Care Months 1-9	169	3
Step 1: Months 1-3	NOT COMPLETED	Sequence 1: Usual Care Months 1-3, Canadian C-Spine Rule Months 4-9	0	0
Step 1: Months 1-3	NOT COMPLETED	Sequence 2: Usual Care Months 1-6, Canadian C-Spine Rule Months 7-9	0	0
Step 1: Months 1-3	NOT COMPLETED	Sequence 3: Usual Care Months 1-9	0	0
Step 2: Months 4-6	STARTED	Sequence 1: Usual Care Months 1-3, Canadian C-Spine Rule Months 4-9	758	4

1 to 10 of 27Source ClinicalTrials.gov

See all 27 participant flow

Adverse events0

Each adverse event the trial posted, group by group: the participants affected out of those at risk.

None in this release.

Adverse event totals6

The totals the trial posted for each group.

Total	Group	At risk
Total, all-cause mortality	Control Phase (Usual Care)	1,745
Total, all-cause mortality	Canadian C-Spine Rule	1,898
Total, other adverse events	Control Phase (Usual Care)	1,745
Total, other adverse events	Canadian C-Spine Rule	1,898
Total, serious adverse events	Control Phase (Usual Care)	1,745
Total, serious adverse events	Canadian C-Spine Rule	1,898

Source ClinicalTrials.gov

Papers1

The papers the trial lists on ClinicalTrials.gov.

PMID	Listed as
32348267	RESULT

Source PubMed

Grants0

The grants NIH RePORTER links to the trial, newest funded first: NIH's, and some of AHRQ's, CDC's, FDA's and VA's. Each shows its title, principal investigators, organization and funder in its newest year.

None in this release.

Trial comparisons5

Comparisons of the trial's two groups, calculated by ConductScience from the counts it posted.

Comparison	Source
Canadian C-Spine Rule vs Control Phase (Usual Care): Proportion of Patients With a Pain Score </= 5/10	Trial comparisons
Canadian C-Spine Rule vs Control Phase (Usual Care): Proportion of Patients Transported With Spinal Immobilization	Trial comparisons
Canadian C-Spine Rule vs Control Phase (Usual Care): Proportion of Patients Feeling Uncomfortable	Trial comparisons
Canadian C-Spine Rule vs Control Phase (Usual Care): deaths from any cause	Trial comparisons
Canadian C-Spine Rule vs Control Phase (Usual Care): serious adverse events	Trial comparisons

Tests0

The ConductCognition tests this trial's registered outcomes name, as ScienceGraph matched them in trial-tests-2026-11-12-0.2.1.

None in this release.

Data dates

The day each source was copied for this release.

ClinicalTrials.gov: 2026-11-12; ClinicalTrials.gov
Results, from AACT: 2026-03-23; AACT
NIH grant links: 2026-11-13; NIH RePORTER

Sources 3

ClinicalTrials.gov's posted results, through CTTI's AACTFreely available. Acknowledgement requested
ClinicalTrials.govNo license stated
NIH RePORTER's clinical studies and project filesPublic domain

Each source's terms

ClinicalTrials.gov's posted results, through CTTI's AACTClinicalTrials.gov data via Aggregate Analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov (AACT), CTTI. CTTI makes its materials freely available and requests acknowledgement. https://aact.ctti-clinicaltrials.org/documentation/299
ClinicalTrials.govnone stated
NIH RePORTER's clinical studies and project filesPublic domain (NIH RePORTER)

ClinicalTrials.gov's data carry an international copyright outside the United States: https://clinicaltrials.gov/about-site/terms-conditions.

For software

Read this trial from software.

The record and each of its lists are JSON, twenty rows a page. No key.

GET https://conductscience.org/api/trials/v1/NCT02786966

GET https://conductscience.org/api/trials/v1/NCT02786966/flow?page=2

API reference For AI assistants