Citation

Gray BL, Buchowski JM, Bumpass DB, Lehman RA, Mall NA, Matava MJ. Spine 2013; 38(38): 1934-1938.

Affiliation

1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University in St. Louis. St. Louis, Missouri 2Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, 8901 Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda, MD 20889, USA 3St. Louis Center for Cartilage Restoration and Repair, Regeneration Orthopedics, 6 McBride & Sons Center Drive, Suite 204, St. Louis, MO 63005.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/BRS.0b013e3182a67678

PMID

24026147

Abstract

Study Design. Retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database.Objective. To determine the overall incidence, location, and type of disc herniations in professional football players in order to target treatment issues and prevention.Summary of Background Data. Disc herniations represent a common and debilitating injury to the professional athlete. The National Football League's (NFL) Sports Injury Monitoring System is a surveillance database created to monitor the league for all injuries, including injuries to the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine.Methods. A retrospective analysis was performed on all disc herniations to the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine over a twelve-season period (2000-2012) using the NFL's surveillance database. The primary data points included the location of the injury, player position, activity at time of injury, and playing time lost due to injury.Results. Over the 12 seasons, 275 disc herniations occurred in the spine. In regard to location, 76% occurred in the lumbar spine and most frequently affected the L5-S1 disc. The offensive linemen were most frequently injured. As expected, blocking was the activity causing most injuries. Lumbar disk herniations rose in prevalence and had a mean loss of playing time of more than half the season (11.5 games). Thoracic disc herniations led to the largest mean number of days lost overall, whereas players with cervical disc herniations missed the most practices.Conclusions. Disc herniations represent a significant cause of morbidity in the NFL. While much attention is placed on spinal cord injuries, preventive measures targeting the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine may help to reduce the overall incidence of these debilitating injuries.

Keywords: American football

Language: en