Skydiving and the risk 
of cervical disc herniation

Beyan, Ayşe Coşkun; Demiral, Yücel; Dilek, Banu; Alıcı, Nur Şafak; Bediz, Cem Şeref; Çımrın, Arif Hikmet

doi:10.13075/ijomeh.1896.01032

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…Eleven relevant case reports were found, four of which described injuries to the spine, three described vascular events, and two described scapula/clavicle fractures. Of the spine injuries, two reported sudden hyperextension of the neck during the parachute opening sequence: one traumatic hangman's fracture [20] and one cervical disc herniation in an occupational skydiver [5]. The other two spine injuries occurred during landingone because of an incorrect tandem landing [21] and one during a hard landing after a collision with another jumper close to the ground [22].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Exit from the airplane can result in minor lacerations and contusions. After deploying the parachute, also known as the opening phase, the skydiver experiences average decelerations of 3-5 times the Earth's gravitational acceleration [5]. Landing is challenged by a complex interaction of speed, flying technique, type of parachute, weather, and geographical conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recreational Skydiving—Really That Dangerous? A Systematic Review

Barthel

Halvachizadeh

Gamble

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Skydiving have gained mainstream popularity over the past decades. However, limited data exist on the injury risk or type associated with skydiving. This systematic review evaluated the injuries and fatalities of civilian skydivers. A PRISMA-guided literature search was performed in MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Embase using the following MeSH terms: “skydiving” or “parachute” alone or in combination with “injury” or “trauma” was performed including all studies through June 2022 in both English and German. Additionally, injury reports from the German, American, and British Parachute Associations were reviewed. Of the 277 articles matching the selected search terms, 10 original articles and 34 non-scientific reports from various skydiving associations were included. More than 62 million jumps were evaluated, with an average of 3,200,000 jumps per year, which showed an average injury rate of 0.044% and an average fatality rate of 0.0011%. The most common injuries sustained by recreational skydivers involved the lumbar spine and lower extremities. Injuries were most commonly reported during the landing sequence. With modern equipment and training methods, fatalities occur in less than 1 per 100,000 cases, and serious injuries requiring hospitalization in less than 2 per 10,000 cases. This puts the assessment of skydiving as a high-risk sport into perspective.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recreational Skydiving—Really That Dangerous? A Systematic Review

Barthel

Halvachizadeh

Gamble

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Dependence of the severity of pain in the lower back and degenerative changes in the lumbar spine in skydivers depending on the experience of training

Arapov,

Gudim,

Shpagin

2023

jour

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Purpose of the study: to assess risk factors for the development of nonspecific back pain syndrome in skydivers.Materials and methods: A single-center, prospective, non-randomized study included 173 men aged 25 to 55 years who had been followed up with low back pain for 1 to 5 years. The main group included 89 people involved in parachuting (experience from 5 to 20 years, number of jumps — 276 (167; 387) times), the comparison group — 84 patients who had never jumped with a parachute. Depending on the total number of jumps, the main group was divided into 2 subgroups: less than 198 (n = 29) and more than 198 parachute jumps (n = 60). All patients underwent clinical neurological examination and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine. MRI was used to quantify the presence of disc tissue displacements, the presence of straightening lordosis, and spondylolisthesis. Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out using the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 program.Results: a correlation was established between the appearance of disc tissue displacement in the spine according to MRI and the number of parachute jumps in the main group (r = 0.430; p < 0.001). The indicated pathological changes in the spine in paratroopers occurred when the total number of jumps was 198 or more. Among parachutists of the main group, displacement of disc tissue in the spine correlated with the level of pain intensity (r = 0.337; p < 0.001) and the degree of functional impairment according to the results of the questionnaires Oswestry (r = 0.325; p < 0.001) and Roland Morris (r = 0.292; p < 0.001). The highest rate of pain syndrome and degree of disability was in the subgroup of paratroopers with extensive experience (p < 0.05), while other groups of patients had no differences in this indicator.Conclusions: in skydiving athletes, the intensity of pain in the lower back and the degree of degenerative-dystrophic changes depended on the number of parachute jumps.

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Skydiving and the risk of cervical disc herniation

Cited by 2 publications

References 13 publications

Recreational Skydiving—Really That Dangerous? A Systematic Review

Recreational Skydiving—Really That Dangerous? A Systematic Review

Dependence of the severity of pain in the lower back and degenerative changes in the lumbar spine in skydivers depending on the experience of training

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