Sports-related spinal cord injury in Japan (From the nationwide spinal cord injury registry between 1990 and 1992)

Abstract

The Injury Prevention Committee of the Japan Medical Society of Paraplegia (JMSoP) conducted a nationwide epidemiological survey on spinal cord injury (SCI) using postal questionnaires for 3 years periods from 1990 to 1992, and the annual incidence of the spinal cord injury was estimated as 40,2 per million. From this registry, we investigated SCI related to sports activities.In 3 years, 528 patients were registered and 374 of them had neurological deficits. The incidence was l.95 per million per annum. Mean age at injury was 28.5 years (10-77), and 88.1 % of the patients were males. Diving was the commonest cause of SCI (21.6%), which was followed by skiing (13.4%), football including rugby, American football and soccer (12.7%), sky sports (7.0%), judo (6.8%) and gymnastics (6.6%). Mean age at injury was higher than 30 years in skiing (38.6 years) and sky sports (38.2 years). Cervical injury was predominant in all but sky sports and accounted for 83.5% of SCI. Motor complete paralysis was reported in 35.0% of the patients. Bony injury was observed in 55.9% of the patients; most of the patients who sustained the SCI in diving and sky sports had bony injury, and no bony injury was detected in more than a half of the patients who sustained injuries in skiing, judo or gymnastics.Although the percentage of sports-related SCI was small in the present study as compared to the data from previous reports, it is not difficult to imagine the increase in the number of sports-related SCI. We have launched an injury prevention campaign and are planning to conduct a similar study in future to evaluate the effect of the campaign as well as the changes in the incidence and pattern of SCI.

Pattern of sports- and recreation-related spinal cord injuries in Beijing

“…12 In Japan, the majority of SR-related SCIs result from diving and gymnastics accidents, 6 and diving was the most common cause of spinal cord injury (21.6%) in a nationwide epidemiological survey. 7 This resembles the pattern of SR-related SCIs in this report. In Israel, air sport accidents are the main cause of SCI, probably because of intensive and extensive military activities in the region.…”

“…These characteristics were consistent with those reported in the literature. 2,3,7,12,19 The pattern of aetiology varies among countries. In the United States, 7.3% of spinal cord injuries are caused by sports accidents, of which football is the most common.…”

“…These injuries predominately occur in young adults, [1][2][3][4] and contribute to a high incidence of long-term disability and high morbidity. [5][6][7][8][9][10] They also impose a heavy economic burden on the society. 5,11 An understanding of the pattern of SR-related SCIs is necessary to identify the risk groups in terms of age, gender, type of sports and recreation, and mechanism of injury to improve prevention.…”

“…5,11 An understanding of the pattern of SR-related SCIs is necessary to identify the risk groups in terms of age, gender, type of sports and recreation, and mechanism of injury to improve prevention. Numerous studies have shown the features of SR-related SCIs [2][3][4][6][7][8][11][12][13][14][15] and proposed measures for their prevention. [14][15][16] In China, however, SR-related SCIs did not receive sufficient attention.…”

Review of spinal cord injuries in Ireland

“…Again, the incidence of sport-related SCI is similar to that seen in other countries. 21 Relatively greater numbers of patients were injured in rural areas. This is a reflection of all traumarelated injuries in Ireland, and is also seen in other countries with rural populations.…”