Vertebral Fracture

Vertebral Fracture during Football

A fracture should be suspected where the patient complains of neck, head or shoulder pain, or if there is a restriction of neck range of movement.

All treatment should be undertaken only by qualified medical personnel, and involves prolonged immobilisation of the neck for 6 to 12 weeks.

The consequences of this injury can be tragic, and it is fortunately extremely rare in football.

Vertebral Fracture during Rugby and extreme sports

In other sports, particularly rugby union, the injury can occur more frequently, although it is thankfully still rare. Usually it is a consequence of a collapse in the scrum, affecting the players in the front row.

Depending on the direction of neck movement during injury the fracture may be due to over-flexion, over-extension, excessive rotation or compression. The fracture can occur at any of the seven vertebrae in the neck, with varying consequences. Generally speaking the prognosis is worse if the fracture is higher up the cervical spine, where the fracture can be fatal or result in paraplegia. Because of these serious possible consequences, first aid treatment should be attempted only by qualified medical personnel.

The patient will usually have a history of head or neck trauma and in these circumstances, all trauma of this nature should be treated as a cervical fracture until proven otherwise. A fracture should also be suspected in cases where the patient complains of neck, head or shoulder pain, or if there is a restriction of neck range of movement.

All treatment should be undertaken only by qualified medical personnel. In the acute stage this mainly entails immobilisation to prevent damage to the spinal cord. Once the patient has been x-rayed, the management of the injury by an orthopaedic consultant is dependent upon the type of fracture.

Prolonged immobilisation for 6 to 12 weeks is achieved either by screwing the fragments together surgically or instructing the patient to wear a plaster cast.

Once the fracture has healed, physiotherapy treatment under the supervision of a chartered physiotherapist is required to restore range of movement and neck muscle strength.