Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Sports Med. 2010 Jan 1;40(1):59-75. doi: 10.2165/11319650-000000000-00000.
Cervical spinal cord injuries may occur with catastrophic sequelae (e.g. quadriplegia) in collision sport activities. The discovery was made that the head-down tackling technique in football straightens the spine into a position vulnerable for compression and, thus, is responsible for these incidents. This led to rule changes requiring head-up tackling, which in turn resulted in the reduction of the incidence of these injuries. However, the dramatic initial reduction in the occurrence - from 32 and 34 catastrophic injuries in 1975 and 1976, respectively, down to 12 in 1977 - has levelled off with ten and eight reported cases in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The football community has increased their efforts to prevent head-down tackling with additional rule changes. Brachial plexus injury prevention must rely on properly fitted shoulder pads and use of equipment such as 'cowboy' collars. Furthermore, physicians must take into consideration cervical cord neurapraxia, congenital stenosis and other risk factors in patients who wish to return to contact sports.
颈椎脊髓损伤可能会在碰撞性运动中产生灾难性的后果（例如四肢瘫痪）。人们发现，足球中的低头铲球技术会使脊柱伸直，容易受到压缩，因此是造成这些事件的原因。这导致了规则的改变，要求采用抬头铲球，而这反过来又降低了这些损伤的发生率。然而，这些损伤的发生率最初急剧下降——从 1975 年和 1976 年的 32 例和 34 例灾难性损伤分别下降到 1977 年的 12 例——但在 2006 年和 2007 年分别报告了 10 例和 8 例后，已经趋于平稳。足球界已经加大了努力，通过额外的规则改变来防止低头铲球。预防臂丛神经损伤必须依靠合适的肩垫和使用“牛仔”项圈等设备。此外，医生必须考虑到希望重返接触性运动的患者的颈脊髓神经束震荡、先天性狭窄和其他风险因素。
