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Return-to-Play Recommendations After Cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar Spine Injuries: A Comprehensive Review
Philip Huang1, Alireza Anissipour2, William McGee3
1Midwestern University, Downers Grove, Illinois philhuang1@gmail.com.
Sports Health
|October 27, 2015
Summary
No standardized criteria exist for athletes returning to play after spine injuries. Universal agreement exists that athletes must be pain-free, neurologically intact, and have full strength and range of motion before return.
Area of Science:
- Sports Medicine
- Orthopaedic Surgery
- Neurosurgery
Background:
- National focus on standardized return-to-play (RTP) guidelines for athletes.
- Existing RTP protocols are continuously refined based on emerging data.
- No standardized criteria currently exist for athletes with spine injuries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review existing literature and guidelines for return to play after spine injuries in athletes.
- To identify consensus and discrepancies in current recommendations.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE) and professional organizational websites (1980-2015).
- Clinical review methodology.
- Level 4 evidence.
Main Results:
- Published guidelines for RTP after spine injury are primarily based on expert opinion, not robust studies.
- Recommendations vary significantly based on injury location, sport type, and surgical intervention.
- Lack of consensus on specific criteria for RTP after spinal injury.
Conclusions:
- Universal agreement exists that athletes must be pain-free, neurologically intact, and possess full strength and range of motion before RTP.
- Despite agreement on general principles, specific, evidence-based criteria for spine injury RTP are lacking.
