391-Mehnert-Neck Injuries in Soccer.indd

Soccer, known as football everywhere in the world except the United States, is undoubtedly one of the world’s most popular team sports. In the United States alone it is estimated that 12.5 to 18.2 million people participate in this sport. A global estimate by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (1) has reported the number of people worldwide who regularly play at approximately 250 million, with that number growing every year. Despite this popularity, there seems to be a relative deficit of literature about the exact biomechanics and complications (both immediate and long-term) of neck trauma resulting from a maneuver in this sport known as “heading”. By contrast, there are significant data on cervical injury in American football. Perhaps this is due to the fact that, relatively speaking, soccer has a fairly low injury rate, especially when compared to American football (2). Nonetheless, soccer is classified by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a contact sport, and there is a risk of head and neck injury. Concussions account for a fairly high percentage of injuries in soccer players, and have been reported to be as much as 3.2% and 2.8% of all injuries in men’s and women’s soccer, with slightly higher numbers among soccer-playing youths (2). As a result, increasing attention is given to the possible role of heading in mild traumatic brain injury. Most would argue that a differentiation must be made between head injuries from all causes in soccer vs. possible cumulative effects from proper heading. Similarly the question arises as to the effects of heading on the structures in the neck, and to what extent they are affected by routine play and proper technique as opposed to incidental collisions or falls.