Thoracic Spinal Injuries in Adolescents: A Narrative Review

Despite their increasing prevalence epidemiological data on thoracic spine injuries(TSI) is under-presented in the literature. Furthermore, these studies fail to correlatemechanisms of injury to the specific spinal regions injured. Team ball sports appear tobe common activities undertaken in these age groups. A narrative review wasconducted to understand the aetiology of traumatic TSI, with a focus on sporting causes in youth populations. A literature search was conducted through various databases (from inception to April 2024) such as PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, ProQuest Central, Science Direct and SPORTDiscus. Seven studies, including 1670 patients were included in the dataset. TSI, particularly fractures, were found to be more common in adolescent age groups. Common sporting causes of spinal trauma included equestrian and team ball/contact sports. This review found few studies failed to correlate the mechanism of injury and the specific spinal level affected, supporting the need for further research.