Subaxial Cervical Spine Injury Classification Systems

The Subaxial Injury Classification (SLIC) and severity scale is recommended as a classification system for spinal cord injury. This system includes morphological, ligamentous, and neurological information in its scoring, thus communicating a greater amount of information regarding the extent of the patient’s injury. Its overall inter-rater reliability has an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.71.

The Cervical Spine Injury Severity Score (CSISS) is recommended as a classification system for graded instability and fracture patterns in patients with spinal cord injury. Although there is excellent reliability, (intraobserver and interobserver intraclass correlation coefficients for 15 reviewers were 0.977 and 0.883, respectively) the system is somewhat complicated, and its use may be limited to clinical trials rather than daily practice.