Injuries during a massive tug-of-war game

"Tug-of-war" may cause a variety of sports injuries, which has rarely been reported previously. This report described an uncommon case of a previously fit 64-year-old male who presented with abrupt onset of loss of consciousness after falling down in a game of massive tug of war including 1,500 participants as the rope snapped apart. Computed tomography (CT) scan of his abdomen revealed liver and spleen rupture. Spinal cord injury due to traumatic herniation of intervertebral disc at C5-6 level and bilateral brachial plexus injury were also noted after exploratory laparotomy with primary repair of liver and spleen. He then received diskectomy over C5-6 and C6-7 and neurolysis for the right brachial plexus. Multiple neurological complications including paraplegia, severe neuralgia over bilateral C5 dermatome and spasticity over bilateral lower extremities developed. After two-year comprehensive rehabilitation programs, the patient recovered to ambulate with assistive device, and resumed partially dependent daily living activities.