The authors investigated the relevance of 2D MRI measurements for the diagnosis of critical cervical spinal canal stenosis. Among patients who had sustained a minor cervical spine trauma, they compared MRI measurements of the cervical spine between those with acute cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI) and those without. They also investigated the correlation between the MRI measurements and the severity of CSCI as well as classification accuracy concerning the diagnosis of critical spinal canal stenosis for acute CSCI after a minor trauma.