Thoracolumbar spinal injuries following speedboat accidents

Allami, Mohamad; Drakoulakis, E.G.; Dinopoulos, Haralambos; Dunsmuir, Robert; MacDonald, David; Giannoudis, Peter V.

doi:10.1016/j.injury.2005.04.017

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Typically, AOSpine A type fractures result from a combination of high compression forces associated with some degrees of anterior flexion. Few case reports and only one series have reported compression fractures originating from wavy boat rides [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. These unexpected fractures occur in relatively calm conditions and are typically a surprise to boat occupants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spinal Fractures during Touristic Motorboat Sea Cruises: An Underestimated and Avoidable Phenomenon

May

Bailly²,

Sellier

et al. 2023

JCM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: Each summer, many vacationers enjoy the Mediterranean Sea shores. Among the recreational nautical activities, motorboat cruise is a popular choice that leads to a significant number of thoracolumbar spine fractures at our clinic. This phenomenon seems to be underreported, and its injury mechanism remains unclear. Here, we aim to describe the fracture pattern and propose a possible mechanism of injury. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical, radiological, and contextual parameters of all motorboat-related spinal fracture cases during a 14-year period (2006–2020) in three French neurosurgical level I centers bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Fractures were classified according to the AOSpine thoracolumbar classification system. Results: A total of 79 patients presented 90 fractures altogether. Women presented more commonly than men (61/18). Most of the lesions occurred at the thoracolumbar transition region between T10 and L2 (88.9% of the levels fractured). Compression A type fractures were seen in all cases (100%). Only one case of posterior spinal element injury was observed. The occurrence of neurological deficit was rare (7.6%). The most commonly encountered context was a patient sitting at the boat’s bow, without anticipating the trauma, when the ship’s bow suddenly elevated while crossing another wave, resulting in a “deck-slap” mechanism hitting and propelling the patient in the air. Conclusions: Thoracolumbar compression fractures are a frequent finding in nautical tourism. Passengers seated at the boat’s bow are the typical victims. Some specific biomechanical patterns are involved with the boat’s deck suddenly elevating across the waves. More data with biomechanical studies are necessary to understand the phenomenon. Prevention and safety recommendations should be given before motorboat use to fight against these avoidable fractures.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spinal Fractures during Touristic Motorboat Sea Cruises: An Underestimated and Avoidable Phenomenon

May

Bailly²,

Sellier

et al. 2023

JCM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…During the past two decades, an increasing number of case series on injuries onboard high-speed boats have been published [ 1 , 5 , 6 , 19 , 26 , 28 ]. This is especially true for military high-speed boat operators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Exposure to a potentially injurious whole-body impact is not limited to military special-forces boat operators. An increasing number of powerful high-speed boats are in use by sea rescue institutions, coast guards, border patrols, customs teams, law enforcement, and a variety of offshore industries including wind farming, as well as tourist boat companies and leisure boat owners [ 1 , 3 ]. Potentially injurious whole-body impact exposure also occurs on land in a variety of military and civilian offroad vehicles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Military High-speed Boat Slamming Cause Severe Injuries and Disability?

Ullman

Hengst

Carpenter³

et al. 2022

Clin Orthop Relat Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Many operators of professional high-speed boats suffer severe, acute, and permanent injuries caused by slamming-induced hull impacts. As the number of professional high-speed boats and their speed capabilities increase, operators are reporting increasing numbers and severity of injuries. However, the actual incidence rate of acute injuries and the prevalence of chronic musculoskeletal disorders are still unknown. Questions/purposes We sought to investigate, among professional high-speed boat operators, (1) the selfreported incidence rate of impact-induced injuries, (2) the most common types of injuries or injury locations, (3) what impact characteristics were reported, and (4) the prevalence of self-reported sick leave, disability, and medical or orthopaedic treatment. Methods This study was an internet-based survey among retired military high-speed boat operators. The survey was given to members of the Combatant Craft Crewman Association online user group (360 members). Participants answered questions on demographics, service branch, service years and capacity, boat type, types of events, injury location, severity, pain, disability, and need for treatment. Values are presented as the mean 6 SD and proportions. Incidence rates are presented as injuries per person-year. A total of 214 Members of one of the author's (JU) family has ownership of Ullman Dynamics, which develops and produces marine suspension seats. JU has no ownership and has not received any payments from Ullman Dynamics. This author certifies no receipt of personal payments or benefits from Ullman Dynamics. One of the authors (RC) is the president of Train Maintain Sustain Group, which provides high-speed boat operations training and expertise in high-speed boat design and performance. This author certifies no receipt of personal payments or benefits, during the study period. RC/TMS Group later commenced consultancy work for Ullman Dynamics in the United States. This author certifies current receipt of payments or benefits of USD 10,000 to USD 100,000 from Ullman Dynamics. All ICMJE Conflict of Interest Forms for authors and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research® editors and board members are on file with the publication and can be viewed on request. Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (number 2022-00603-01).

show abstract

“…Many studies reported spinal injuries following these water-related recreational activities [5][6][7][8][9]. However, only a small number of studies documents of uncommon spine injury following speedboat travelling without collision and its actual mechanism of injury [10]. If the personal watercrafts are the motorcycles of the water, then the speedboats are certainly the cars.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiology of Thoracolumbar Spine Injuries Associated with Speedboat Travelling without Collision: A Unique Spine Injury Mechanism

Treenarong

2018

BJSTR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: To evaluate the epidemiology of thoracolumbar spine injuries following speedboat travelling at our coastal tertiary trauma center, and to identify injury patterns and mechanism of injury of these specific injuries and to determine the association of position on board with the risk of thoracolumbar injury in this type of transportation. Materials and Methods:A retrospective review of a consecutive series of 80 patients sustaining thoracolumbar spine injuries following speed boating was conducted. The enrolled patients were treated at Level II trauma center over a 2-year period since July 1, 2016 to May 31, 2018. All the victims were unrestrained passengers on board a speedboat travelling at high speed without any safety regulation. Initially full evaluation with advance trauma life support protocol on arrival was performed. Plain radiographs, computed thermography or MRI study was obtained individually. Number, level and type of thoracolumbar injury were recorded and reported base on CT scan and Thoracolumbar Injury Classification by AO group. The association of the position on board with incidence of thoracolumbar spine injury was then analysed and compared relatively.Results: All spinal fractures are single level injury. The level of injury is mainly at thoracolumbar area that involved 6 cases (7.5%) of T11 vertebra, 20 cases (25%) of T12 vertebra, 44 cases (55%) of L1 vertebra and 10 cases (12.5%) of L2 vertebra respectively. No injury of cervical and sacral region has been reported. A spinal cord/nerve root injury occurred in the lumbar region in 1 patient (1.25%). All of 80 injuries patterns are type A injury (compression type), classified by AO Spine Thoracolumbar Injury Classification, including of 32 levels (40%) of subtype A1, 18 levels (22.5%) of subtype A2, 8 levels (10%) of subtype A3 and 22 levels (27.5%) of subtype A4. Patients who sat in the front row seat were significantly at higher risk for thoracolumbar spine injury (p < 0.05; odds ratio = 41.83; 95%CI: 15.24, 114.8). No patient who sat at the rear was reported having this kind of injury. Conclusion:Our data show the high incidence of this unique compressive type of thoracolumbar spine injury in the patient who sat in the front row seat while on boarding speed boat traveling. As a result of increasing recognition of these regional-specific injuries, practitioners who take responsibility for trauma patient on the coastal area should be aware of the high prevalence of these injuries. Proper universal spinal precaution must be followed to optimize treatment outcome. Current safety regulations including of speed limitation, proper safety restrain technique, bracing position on board and marine rescuers should be reviewed or changed to minimize the number of the victim and degree of damage.

show abstract

Thoracolumbar spinal injuries following speedboat accidents

Cited by 5 publications

References 22 publications

Spinal Fractures during Touristic Motorboat Sea Cruises: An Underestimated and Avoidable Phenomenon

Spinal Fractures during Touristic Motorboat Sea Cruises: An Underestimated and Avoidable Phenomenon

Does Military High-speed Boat Slamming Cause Severe Injuries and Disability?

Epidemiology of Thoracolumbar Spine Injuries Associated with Speedboat Travelling without Collision: A Unique Spine Injury Mechanism

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About