Objective: Gymnastics is a highly demanding sport on the body. The body takes a tremendous amount of force and stress with many of the complex routines between the floor and bars leading to injuries. Spine problems appear to result not only from single episodes of macrotrauma, but also from repeated microtrauma caused by specific impact loads during vaults and hyperextension. Otherwise, unique demands of this sport, which repetitively place significant forces across the spine, it becomes clear why the spine commonly is injured. The purpose of this article was to review the distribution and determinants of head and spine injury rates that reported in the gymnastics injury literature. Data sources: An extensive search of PubMed, Sport discus and Science direct has conducted using keywords ‘gymnastics’ , ‘injury’, ‘spine injury’ and ‘biomechanics’ from 1976 to 2013. This review focuses on studies using denominator-based designs and on those published in the English language. 21 articles have provided data about head and spine injuries in gymnastic were selected finally. Also 12 cross-sectional studies about spine injury were analyzed. Main results: Comparison of study results was compromised due to the diversity of study populations, variability of injury definition across studies and changes in rules and equipment across years. Exposure-based injury rates in gymnastic was range from 0.5 to 3.7 injuries per 1,000 h. Also, a percent of head and spine injuries were (range0-7.7%) and (range7.5-43.6%) respectively. In addition, Sprain and back muscle strain were the most common types of injury in gymnastic. Potential causes of back pain in a gymnast were spondylolysis, Scheuermann’s disease, intervertebral disc pathology, and mechanical sources of pain. Factors associated with an increased injury risk among female gymnasts include greater body size and body fat, periods of rapid growth, and increased life stress. Conclusions: Several strategies can help to prevent gymnastics injuries, from vigilant spotting to properly maintained equipment. The cause of low-back pain can include muscle strain, ligament sprain, fracture, and/or disc disorders. Frequently, low-back pain will worsen with activity, especially with extension movements, such as arching the shoulders backwards. Low-back pain in gymnasts related to muscular strain or ligament sprain usually responds to rest and physical therapy exercises. Persistent back pain is uncommon and should not be ignored. An MRI or bone scans are often helpful to rule out more significant injuries. Above all, this overview of the gymnastics spine injury literature underscores the need to establish large-scale injury surveillance systems designed to provide current and reliable data on injury trends in both boys and girls gymnastics, and to be used as a basis for analyzing injury risk factors and identifying dependable injury preventive measures.

Gymnastic, Injury, Spine, Biomechanics