Study Reveals Emergency On-Field Treatment for Neck Injuries in Young Collision Sports Athletes No Different T...( New research shows 'all or nothing' ...),Health

New research shows 'all or nothing' policy in adult field guidelines also

appropriate for 8-14 year olds

SAN FRANCISCO, March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- New guidelines for on-field treatment and emergency transport of young athletes with suspected neck injuries should recommend keeping both helmet and shoulder pads on for initial stabilization and transport, followed by removal of both, once the patient is in a controlled setting, according to new research released today at the 2008 American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Specialty Day at The Moscone Center.

"There was a clear hole in on-the-field guidelines in the treatment of young (8-14 year olds) contact and collision sports athletes with possible neck injuries," says first author and study presenter Gehron Treme, MD, former sports medicine fellow at the University of Virginia, now with the Center for Orthopaedics in Lake Charles, LA. "Skeletal proportions are different in children than adults. Kids have larger heads than torsos. With this study, we looked to see if this disproportion would result in a different recommendation, such as removing the helmet only. Our study found, however, just as is the case with adults, that both the helmet and shoulder pads should be left on for initial treatment and removed as a unit once the patient is stabilized."

Only car accidents and falls had a higher frequency of neck injuries in kids than sports participation. Neck injuries in football, ice hockey and lacrosse are rare, but can be catastrophic, according to Treme. Football players represented 29 percent of the cases of children with neck injuries from sports participation. In particular, the number of 7 - 17-year-olds playing tackle football increased by nearly 45 percent between 1997 and 2006, according to the National Sporting Goods Association.

"Although these events are uncommon, they can be tragic," says Treme. "The initial treatment, usually within the first
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