Severe cervical XXXX related to rugby union and league football in New South Wales, 1984-1996.

@entity1 @entity1688 @entity3510 @entity51 @entity1566 @entity130
OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency and circumstances of serious cervical @entity1566 associated with rugby union and league football in New South Wales. DESIGN: Retrospective review of @entity1 with rugby football-related cervical @entity1566 . SETTING: The two central spinal units in NSW, from January 1984 to July 1996. OUTCOME MEASURES: Admission to spinal units; injury resulting in permanent @entity1688 . RESULTS: During the review period, 115 rugby football players (56 union and 59 league) were admitted to the spinal units because of cervical @entity1566 . 49 @entity1 had resultant permanent @entity51 (complete @entity1688 [ @entity1688 ])--26 associated with rugby union and 23 with rugby league. Two @entity1 died of @entity130 within two weeks of admission. There was no significant change in the rate of football-related admissions to spinal units for either code. There was a small decline in the number (from 15 in 1984 to 1987 to 7 in 1992 to 1996) and incidence (from 1.2 to 0.5 per 10,000 @entity1 ) of @entity1 with @entity1688 associated with rugby union. When this decline was tested as a trend over the years, it was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.06). No significant trend was found in the @entity1688 data associated with rugby league. Cervical @entity1566 leading to complete @entity1688 were most commonly associated with scrum-like plays in union and with tackles in league. CONCLUSION: Serious cervical @entity3510 associated with both codes of rugby continue to occur in NSW. Rugby football in its various forms is still an inherently dangerous game.
