© 2004 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine
CASE REPORT
Paraplegia secondary to fracture-subluxation of the thoracic spine sustained playing rugby union football
Orthopaedic Surgery, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
A J Walsh
Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Orthopaedic Surgery, 289 Sutton Park, Sutton, Dublin 13, Republic of Ireland; walshajw{at}eircom.net
Fractures of the spinal column during rugby matches of all codes are rare but catastrophic, especially when associated with spinal cord injury. The cervical spine is vulnerable during trauma to the head and neck in contact sports. Spinal injuries reported during rugby matches have almost exclusively involved the cervical region, often with neurological sequelae. This is the first reported case of paraplegia caused by a fracture-dislocation of the thoracic spine resulting from a low velocity rugby union injury.
Keywords: rugby; thoracic fracture; spinal cord; paraplegia
Relevant Article
![]()
CiteULike
Complore
Connotea
Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Technorati What's this?
Br. J. Sports Med. 2004 38: 742.
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
