A
recent study by British journal of SportsMedicine of MRIs of the athletes at Rio 2016 revealed the following…
That aquatic diving had
highest sport-specific rates of spinal pathology, with one positive study per 33 divers (135 divers,
sting of the lumbar spine that a diver must perform while plunging 3–10 m into the water.
Weightlifting had the second highest sport-specific rate of spinal pathology, with one positive case per 63 weightlifters (256 weightlifters, four MRIs). All positive studies seen in weightlifters were of the lumbar spine.With degenerative disc disease and/or moderate to severe canal narrowing were the most common spinal pathologies.
Spinal stenosis can lead to a wide variety of neurological disorders. These pathologies are likely chronic in nature and may be secondary to lifting technique. Adequate precautions by focusing on improved training and lifting techniques should be considered to prevent this type of spinal pathology.
Other sports with notable spinal pathologies include judo (390 athletes) and athletics (2367 athletes). Five of the judo participants, or nearly 1 in 77, and 15 of those in athletics, or 1 in 167, had moderate to severe spinal pathology. Judo involves throwing and striking opponents, which may lead to overuse issues and trauma for the athlete. Athletics involves speed and strength with significant risk of overuse and acute injuries.
Rate and incidence of pathology by age
Athletes over 30 years old had higher rates of moderate to severe spinal pathology on MRI, with 1 athlete per 120 (24 out of 2910) demonstrating moderate to severe spinal disease.
One athlete per 333 (27 out of 7753) between 20 and 29 years of age demonstrated moderate to severe spinal pathology. Only 1 of the 611 athletes under 20 years of age demonstrated moderate to severe spinal pathology. As previous studies have demonstrated, high-level athletes are more commonly affected by disc degeneration than non-athletes
The increased rate with age is likely the result of accumulation and progression of chronic injuries; however, these athletes may be prone to more acute injuries as well.
The lumbar spine was the most frequently imaged portion
of the spine on MRI, accounting for 80 of the 107 spine MRIs. The highest number of positive lumbar spine studies was seen in athletics, with 12 athletes demonstrating disc disease, 2 demonstrating moderate to severe canal narrowing and 4 demonstrating moderate to severe neural foraminal narrowing.
European athletes had more spinal MRIs during the Rio Games than the rest of the world combined. There are likely many factors influencing this disproportionate utilisation of spinal MRI, but most likely it is the result of the medical staff and trainers’ input into who is scanned.
Acute spine pathologies, such as stress reaction oedema and muscle injury, were more commonly seen in female than male athletes. While there is no clear explanation for this predominance, all of these injuries involved the lumbar region, suggesting that chronic pathologies of the lumbar spine may first start as other injuries and progress to degenerative changes.
One question is how elite athletes, such as those participating in the Olympics, can compete at the highest level with the kind of severe spinal pathology seen in our study. A previous study found that athletes with low back pain perceive less impairment compared with non-athletes.
Perhaps, elite athletes have different coping mechanisms for pain to endure the demands of elite competition in which they place their body at risk for acute or overuse injury.
Conclusions
A significant number of athletes demonstrated advanced spinal disease on MRI during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, with approximately 1 athlete per 200 demonstrating moderate to severe spinal pathology. The lumbar spine was the most commonly affected site of disease. Many of the Olympic sports rely on strength, speed, force, bending and twisting. Even with excellent preparation and training, the spine is at risk for moderate to severe injury. The highest rates of spine injury were seen in women and athletes over 30 years old. Recognition of these risks is important, as there should be efforts to avoid the long-term sequelae of spinal pathology. Spine-conscious training, routines and manoeuvres are recommended to prevent the development and progression of these acute and chronic spinal pathologies. Our hope is to better direct injury prevention strategies in future2017;51:1265–71.doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097956 Abstract/FREE Full TextGoogle Scholar
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11.↵ Bethapudi S , Budgett R , Engebretsen L , et al . Imaging at London 2012 summer Olympic Games: analysis of demand and distribution of workload. Br J Sports Med 2013;47:850–6.doi:10.1136/bjsports-2013-092345 Abstract/FREE Full TextGoogle Scholar
12.↵ Swärd L , Hellström M , Jacobsson B , et al . Disc degeneration and associated abnormalities of the spine in elite gymnasts. A magnetic resonance imaging study. Spine 1991;16:437–43.CrossRefPubMedWeb of ScienceGoogle Scholar
13.↵ Heidari J , Mierswa T , Hasenbring M , et al . Low back pain in athletes and non-athletes: a group comparison of basic pain parameters and impact on sports activity. Sport Sci Health 2016;12:297–306.doi:10.1007/s11332-016-0288-7 Google Scholar
View Abstract
Footnotes
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement Our study and intent to publish the data were approved by the IOC (R2C10).
Competing interests AG is the president of Boston Imaging Core Lab (BICL) and a consultant to Merck Serono, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, GE Healthcare, OrthoTrophix, Sanofi and TissueGene. FWR, AZM and MDC are shareholders of BICL. LE is a consultant to Arthrex and Smith & Nephew. DH, MAK, MSW and MJ have nothing to disclose.
Ethics approval This study obtained ethical approval from Medical Research Ethics Committee of the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (2011/388) and from Boston University (IRB no: H-36593).
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A recent study by British journal of SportsMedicine of MRIs of the athletes at Rio 2016 revealed the following…
That aquatic diving had the highest sport-specific rates of spinal pathology, with one positive study per 33 divers (135 divers,
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