OBJECTIVE To review the literature for evidence that pertains to return to play and spine injuries, including cervical spinal stenosis, congenital and developmental abnormalities of the cervical spine, stingers, herniated nucleus pulposus, and spondylolysis/spondylolisthesis. DATA SOURCES Electronic databases, Pubmed (1966-2005) and Sport Discus (1975-2005), were searched for pertinent litera...

Reprint requests to: Dr. Clement Kuen-Huang Chen Department of Radiology; Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital. No. 386, Ta Chung 1st Road, Kaohsiung 813, Taiwan, R.O.C. Neural arch cleft could be a challenge to radiologists to distinguish from acute fracture on plain radiograph or CT scan. It is important for radiologists to be familiar with the imaging appearance and types of neural arch cleft...

Youth sports participation carries an inherent risk of injury, including overuse injuries. Little leaguer's shoulder, a stress fracture of the proximal humerus that presents as lateral shoulder pain, usually is self-limited. Little leaguer's elbow is a medial stress injury; treatment consists of complete rest from throwing for four to six weeks followed by rehabilitation and a gradual throwing ...

Surgical management is indicated for children and adolescents with spondylolysis and low-grade spondylolisthesis (< or =50% slip) who fail to respond to nonsurgical measures. In situ posterolateral L5 to S1 fusion is the best option for those with a low-grade slip secondary to L5 pars defects or dysplastic spondylolisthesis at the lumbosacral junction. Pars repair is reserved for patients with ...

A total of 3886 civilian candidates were medically examined for entry to the Army during the period 1980 to 1990. Eight per cent of the candidates failed their examination. The commonest causes for rejection were back and knee disorders, the majority associated with trauma. The next most common disorder was hearing loss, closely followed by myopia. Analysis of the incidence of individual condit...

Three-level lumbar spondylolyses are extremely rare. So far, only 11 cases were reported in the literature. Treatment of multilevel spondylolyses has not been consistent. Conservative treatment is commonly considered first in most patients, but those who remain symptomatic may benefit from operative treatment. We report here 3 cases of 3-level lumbar spondylolyses that were treated successfully...