This BCI grading scale has prognostic and therapeutic implications. Nonoperative treatment options for grade I BCI should be evaluated in prospective, randomized trials. Accessible grade II, III, IV, and V lesions should be surgically repaired. Inaccessible grade II, III, and IV injuries should be treated with systemic anticoagulation. Endovascular techniques may be the only recourse in high grade V injuries and warrant controlled evaluation in the treatment of grade III BCI.

ObjectiveTo formulate management guidelines for blunt vertebral arterial injury (BVI). Summary Background DataCompared with carotid arterial injuries, BVIs have been considered innocuous. Although screening for BVI has been advocated, particularly in patients with cervical spine injuries, the appropriate therapy of lesions is controversial. MethodsIn 1996 an aggressive arteriographic screening protocol for blunt cerebrovascular injuries was initiated. A prospective database of all screened patients has been maintained. Analysis of injury mechanisms and patterns, BVI grades, treatment, and outcomes was performed. ResultsThirty-eight patients (0.53% of blunt trauma admissions) were diagnosed with 47 BVIs during a 3.5-year period. Motor vehicle crash was the most common mechanism, and associated injuries were common. Cervical spine injuries were present in 71% of patients, but there was no predilection for cervical vertebral level or fracture pattern. The incidence of posterior circulation stroke was 24%, and the BVI-attributable death rate was 8%. Stroke incidence and neurologic outcome were independent of BVI injury grade. In patients treated with systemic heparin, fewer overall had a poor neurologic outcome, and fewer had a poor outcome after stroke. Trends associated with heparin therapy included fewer injuries progressing to a higher injury grade, fewer patients in whom stroke developed, and fewer patients deteriorating neurologically from diagnosis to discharge.

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