Epidemiology of sport-related spinal cord injuries: A systematic review

This study systematically reviews the global epidemiology of sport-related spinal cord injuries (SCI). It looks at which sports and countries have higher rates of these injuries. The review identifies specific sports with high SCI risk, such as diving, skiing, rugby, and horseback riding. It also identifies the most common injury locations (cervical, thoracic, or lumbosacral) for different sports. The study suggests that implementing prevention programs and tracking systems in countries and sports with higher SCI rates could be helpful. It highlights the need for more research to fill gaps in our understanding.

• 1
  Six countries (Russia, Fiji, New Zealand, Iceland, France, and Canada) have sports accounting for over 13% of all traumatic spinal cord injuries.
• 2
  Diving, skiing, rugby, and horseback riding are individual sports associated with a high risk of spinal cord injury.
• 3
  Hockey, skiing, diving and American football injuries are almost entirely cervical, while over half of horseback riding and snowboarding injuries are thoracic or lumbosacral.