One of the most challenging roles of the team physician involves the intervention and decision-making processes regarding cervical spine (C-spine) injuries in contact sports. The team physician must be well versed in the prevention, evaluation, stabilization, and treatment of C-spine injuries. A high index of suspicion and an understanding of...

What is Whiplash Injury?

Whiplash is the term used to describe the violent backwards and forwards movement of the head often experienced by people involved in road traffic accidents. The injury is to the muscles, ligaments or tendons in the neck, some of which have been stretched as a result of this whiplash motion.

Although...

Central cord syndrome (CCS), an acute cervical spinal cord injury (SCI), was initially described by Schneider and colleagues in 1954. It is marked by a disproportionately greater impairment of motor function in the upper extremities than in the lower ones, as well as by bladder dysfunction and a variable amount...

Spasticity (meaning to draw or tug) is involuntary, velocity-dependent, increased muscle tone that results in resistance to movement. The condition may occur secondary to a disorder or trauma, such as a spinal cord injury (SCI), a brain injury, a tumor, a stroke, multiple sclerosis (MS), or a peripheral nerve injury....

Campbell originally coined the term gamekeeper's thumb in 1955,1 because this condition was most commonly associated with Scottish gamekeepers, especially rabbit keepers, in whom the injury was work related. The injury occurred as the men sacrificed game such as rabbits; the animals' necks were broken between the ground and the...

AAOS Annual Meeting 2004 Thursday, March 11, 2004 Tarun Bhargava, MD Wichita KS Naftaly Attias, MD Phoenix AZ Dana G. Seltzer, MD Phoenix AZ R Curtis Bay Phoenix AZ (*) Retrospective chart review suggests that operative delays of up to twenty-four hours do not adversely affect infection rate. Introduction: ...

The most frequent cervical injuries in athletes are probably acute strains and sprains of the musculature of the neck. Strain refers to an injury to a muscle, occurring when a muscle-tendon unit is stretched or overloaded. Cervical muscles that commonly are strained include the sternocleidomastoid (SCM), the trapezius, the rhomboids,...

Thoracic spine fractures, especially those resulting from high energy, can be devastating, often resulting in permanent neurologic injury. Neurologic deficit is encountered in 10-25% of all spinal column injuries, irrespective of the level of injury. A deficit occurs in 15-20% of all thoracolumbar injuries. In the event of a complete...

OTA 2002 - Session 5 Session V - Foot and Ankle Sat., 10/12/02 Foot & Ankle, Paper #34, 9:41 AM Chopart Joint Fracture Dislocations: Initial Open Reduction is Better than Closed Reduction Martinus Richter, MD ; Tobias Hüfner, MD; Ulf Schmidt, MD; Thomas Gosling, MD; Jens Geerling, MD; Christian Krettek, MD,...

Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) usually have permanent and often devastating neurologic deficits and disability.
The goals for the emergency physician are to establish the diagnosis and initiate treatment to prevent further neurologic injury from either pathologic motion of the injured vertebrae or secondary injury from the deleterious effects...

Acromioclavicular (AC) joint injuries are common and often seen after bicycle wrecks, contact sports, and car accidents. The AC joint is located at the top of the shoulder where the acromion process and the clavicle meet to form a joint. Several ligaments surround this joint and depending on the severity...

Medial collateral ligament (MCL) and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) injuries of the knee are common. The MCL and LCL provide restraint to valgus and varus angulation of the knee respectively. The MCL has both superficial and deep components. The superficial MCL fibers attach to the medial femoral epicondyle proximally and...

Author: D Dean Thornton, MD 2007
Pelvic ring fractures occur as the result of high-energy blunt trauma, as in motor vehicle collisions and falls. These injuries are associated with significant morbidity and mortality, both from the complications of pelvic ring fractures and from commonly associated injuries. Recognition of the pattern of...

Lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow, is a commonly encountered problem in orthopedic practice.
The first description of lateral epicondylitis generally is attributed to Runge in 1873. Since this initial report, much controversy over the pathophysiology and treatment of this disorder has existed.
Lateral epicondylitis is an overuse injury involving the extensor/supinator muscles...

The term Tillaux fracture is an eponym describing a fracture of the anterolateral tibial epiphysis that is commonly seen in adolescents. The fragment is avulsed due to the strong anterior tibiofibular ligament in an external rotation injury of the foot in relation to the leg. This injury is rarely seen...

- articular cartilage injury and potential for repair;
- rotational forces in direct trauma is the most common cause of injury to the articular cartilage;
- in adults, the tidemark zone is the weak link between the overlying cartilage and subchondral ...