Dr. Zaahid Pandie’s Role in Advancing Safer Cervical Spine Protocols for Pediatric Patients
Pediatric trauma presents unique challenges in emergency medicine, particularly when it involves the cervical spine. Children are not simply small adults; their anatomy — including a proportionally larger head, ligamentous laxity, and incompletely ossified vertebrae — makes them more vulnerable to spinal cord injury, even in the absence of fractures. Recognizing these risks, Dr. Zaahid Pandie , a respected emergency-medicine clinician and educator, emphasizes the adoption of child-specific cervical-spine protocols to enhance safety and improve outcomes. Understanding the Pediatric Cervical Spine Cervical spine injuries in children are rare, accounting for roughly 1–2% of pediatric trauma cases, but the consequences of misdiagnosis or improper management can be devastating. Unlike adults, children often sustain injuries at the upper cervical levels, near the craniocervical junction. Moreover, many injuries are ligamentous or involve soft tissue, which may not appear clearly on standa...