Table 1 The MEDLINE search strategy

1

Spinal Cord Injuries/

2

Exp Back Injuries/

3

cervical vertebrae/in or lumbar vertebrae/in or thoracic vertebrae/in

4

(myelopath* adj2 (trauma* or post-trauma*)).tw.

5

((spinal or spine* or back) adj2 (contusion* or injury or injuries or trauma* or laceration* or transection*)).tw.

6

cervical vertebrae/ or lumbar vertebrae/ or thoracic vertebrae/

7

((cervical or lumbar or lumbalis or thoracic or thoracal or thoracolumbar or neck or cervicodorsal) adj2 (spine or spinal or backbone or column or vertebra* or canal)).tw.

8

“Wounds and Injuries”/

9

(wound* or injur* or trauma*).tw.

10

(6 or 7) and (8 or 9)

11

1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 10

12

Patient positioning/

13

(patient* adj2 position*).tw.

14

Transportation of patients/

15

(patient* adj2 (transport* or maneuver* or moving or transfer*)).tw.

16

Exp Immobilization/

17

Immobili?ation*.tw.

18

((recovery or lateral) adj2 (posture* or position*)).tw.

19

ltp.tw.

20

Log roll*.tw.

21

Haines*.tw.

22

(high adj arm*).tw.

23

atls.tw.

24

phtls.tw.

25

or/12-24

26

11 and 25

27

Trauma severity indices/ or injury severity score/

28

“Severity of Illness Index”/

29

((rating or asia or injur* or trauma*) adj2 (score* or scale or severit*)).tw.

30

Motion/ or rotation/

31

Range of Motion, Articular/

32

(rotation or motion or (axis adj chang*) or (translat* adj4 (lateral or ap))).tw.

33

or/27-32

34

26 and 33