VERTEBRAL COMPRESSION FRACTURES SUSTAINED DURING GOLFING - REPORT OF 3 CASES

Considerable concern has been expressed about the type and level of ex ercise that are safe for women with osteopenia and osteoporosis; howev er, published information on the effect of golfing on the osteoporotic spine is meager. We describe three postmenopausal patients with acute compression fractures of the vertebrae that occurred during midswing while golfing. These healthy, active women were long-term golfers; the ir ages at the time of the trauma were 63, 58, and 66 years. In one pa tient (case 1), osteoporosis was diagnosed before the golf-related inj ury. The two other patients (cases 2 and 3) sought medical attention a fter the trauma and were found to have osteoporosis. The bone mineral density of the lumbar vertebrae (L2-4) in the three patients at the ti me of or shortly after the trauma was as follows: case 1, 0.77 g/cm2 ( 3rd percentile of normal, corrected for age); case 2, 0.63 g/cm2 (less than 1st percentile of normal, corrected for age); and case 3, 0.69 g /cm2 (2nd percentile of normal, corrected for age). These findings rai se the issue of the safety of golfing for women with previously diagno sed osteoporosis and for those with predisposing risk factors for the disease. Research studies of the kinematics and kinetics of the spine during the golf swing should be conducted. In the interim, a rigid bac k support for golfers with osteoporosis may be helpful until more conc lusive evidence is available from controlled trials.