Bigdon SF, Gewiess J, Hoppe S, Exadaktylos AK, Benneker LM, Fairhurst PG, Albers CE. Spinal injury in alpine winter sports: a review.
Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med 2019;
27:69. [PMID:
31324221 PMCID:
PMC6642543 DOI:
10.1186/s13049-019-0645-z]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Accepted: 07/05/2019] [Indexed: 03/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction
Alpine winter sports have become increasingly popular over recent decades, with a similar increase in accident incidence. This review provides an overview of the most recent literature concerning spinal injury epidemiology, mechanisms, patterns and prevention strategies in the context of alpine winter sports.
Material and methods
The PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE databases were searched using the keywords spine injury, alpine injury, spine fracture, skiing injuries, snowboard injuries. 64 published studies in English and German met a priori inclusion criteria and were reviewed in detail by the authors.
Results
There are various mechanisms of injury in alpine winter sports (high speed falls in skiing, jumping failure in snowboarding) whilst regionality and injury severity are broadly similar. The thoracolumbar spine is the most common region for spinal injury. Spinal cord injury is relatively rare, usually accompanying distraction and rotation type fractures and is most commonly localised to the cervical spine. Disc injuries seem to occur more commonly in alpine winter sport athletes than in the general population.
Discussion
Despite awareness of increasing rates and risks of spinal injuries in alpine winter sports, there has been little success in injury prevention.
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