Pj. Bishop, FACTORS RELATED TO QUADRIPLEGIA IN FOOTBALL AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTION STRATEGIES, American journal of sports medicine, 24(2), 1996, pp. 235-239
Axial compressive loading, the principal cause of spinal cord quadripl
egia in American football, is produced when a player is forcibly struc
k on the crown of the helmet. This impact subjects the small cervical
vertebrae to a large compressive force that often produces stress that
exceeds the failure limit of the spine, Several factors influence the
outcome in axial collisions, including the available kinetic energy,
the displacement needed to dissipate the energy, and the end condition
s of the collision (i.e., the position of the head). Effective interve
ntion of this catastrophic injury requires the melding of information
from the fields of biomechanics and epidemiology. From a biomechanical
perspective, neck loading should be kept at a level that is below the
failure limit of the cervical spine. The epidemiologic rate at which
these injuries develop among football players suggests that cervical q
uadriplegia is rare. Thus, protective devices intended to lower the fo
rces on the cervical spine may not succeed in dramatically reducing th
e incidence of this injury, Because this injury is rare, it is importa
nt to consider that introducing new protective equipment, intended for
intervention of one problem (i.e., cervical quadriplegia), may lead t
o other injuries.