The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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Fortunately, catastrophic cervical spinal cord injuries are relatively uncommon during athletic participation. Stinger and transient quadriplegia/paresis are more frequent injuries that have a wide spectrum of clinical severity and disabilities. Although the diagnosis of these injuries may not be clinically difficult, the treatment and decision about when or if the athlete may return to play after such an injury is often unclear. ⋯ The issue of return to play for an athlete after a cervical spine injury is controversial. Tremendous extrinsic pressures may be exerted on the physician from noninvolved and involved parties. The decision to return an athlete to a particular sport should be based on the mechanism of injury, objective anatomical injury (as demonstrated by clinical examination and radiographic evaluation) and an athlete's recovery response.