Spinal Cord Injuries in Australian Footballers
A recent study has concluded that some acute spinal cord injuries sustained in football games could be avoided by revising the game laws.
In an article in the latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, Professor Thomas Taylor and colleagues reviewed the occurrence of acute spinal cord injuries in all codes of football in Australia from 1997 to 2002 and suggested that adequate action to prevent such injuries is not being taken.
The authors say there are measures that could be introduced for certain phases of play in rugby to reduce the incidence of spinal injuries.
In rugby league there have been no scrum injuries since 1996, when scrums stopped being contested. But, there continues to be good reason to revise the laws of scrum engagement in rugby union, say the authors. Six of the seven scrum injuries in this code took place at engagement of the front rows.
The study also suggests that the laws relating to tackling in rugby league should be changed, as all acute spinal cord injuries in this code resulted from tackles, those involving multiple tacklers being particularly dangerous.
The authors say that preventing acute spinal cord injuries on the sporting field is particularly important given the inadequate insurance payouts received by injured players.
The maximum payment under existing player insurance that could be awarded for injury is $300,000, compared with $7-9 million awarded under third-party insurance for a similar injury sustained in a road traffic accident.
"If the laws of both rugby games are not changed, the rate of injury will remain the same. There is an urgent need, in both codes of football, to institute adequate insurance schemes for injured players", say the authors.
The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.
CONTACT: Professor Thomas Taylor 02 99267178(w) 02 9362 9223(h)
Judith Tokley, AMA 0408 824 306