Quarterbacking the Care Plan: A Chiropractor's Guide to Managing Acute Spine Injuries

Course overview

Defining "quarterbacking" the patient's care Setting expectations with acute injury patients Goals: reduce pain, restore function, identify serious pathology, coordinate timely referrals Comprehensive history and mechanism of injury Orthopedic and neurologic examination Functional assessment and outcome measures Identifying red flags: Progressive neurologic deficits Bowel/bladder dysfunction or saddle anesthesia Fracture suspicion Infection, malignancy, systemic illness Significant trauma or osteoporosis