injuries to the cervical spine in american football players by joseph s. torg, james t. guille, and...

Injuries to the Cervical Spine in American Football Players

by Joseph S. Torg, James T. Guille, and Suzanne Jaffe

J Bone Joint Surg AmVolume 84(1):112-122

January 1, 2002

©2002 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.

Comparison of the rate of head and neck injuries (per 100,000 participants) between 1959 and 1963 with that between 1971 and 1975.

Joseph S. Torg et al. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2002;84:112-122


A college defensive back (wearing dark jersey) is shown ramming, or “spearing,” an opposing ball carrier with his head, resulting in severe axial loading of his cervical spine.



Biomechanically, the straightened cervical spine responds to axial loading forces like a segmented column.



The effect of the 1976 rule changes banning spearing and head-impact playing techniques was dramatic, with a sustained decrease in the number of players who sustained permanent cervical

quadriplegia.



The axial load teardrop fracture is characterized by a teardrop fracture at the anteroinferior corner, a sagittal vertebral body fracture, and a fracture through the posterior arch.



The pincer mechanism, as described by Penning69, occurs when the distance between the posteroinferior margin of the superior vertebral body and the anterosuperior aspect of the

spinolaminar line of the subjacent vertebra decreases with hyperextension; compr...



The spinal canal-vertebral body ratio is the distance from the midpoint of the posterior aspect of the vertebral body to the nearest point on the corresponding spinolaminar line (a) divided by the

anteroposterior width of the vertebral body (b).



Profile plot of the mean diameter of the spinal canal measured, in millimeters, demonstrating a significantly smaller value for Cohort 3 (transient neurapraxia) compared with that of all of the

other cohorts (p < 0.05).



Figs. 9-A and 9-B Graphs, developed with use of logistic regression analysis, showing the risk of recurrence plotted as a function of the disc level diameter measured on magnetic resonance

imaging (MRI) (Fig. 9-A) and the spinal cord-vertebral body ratio ca...



injuries to the cervical spine in american football players by joseph s. torg, james t. guille, and...

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