As one of the fastest contact sports in the world, ice hockey comes with a significant risk of injury, especially at the professional level, where levels of both physical strain and aggression are particularly high. Thanks to protective equipment, breaks are not the most frequent occurrence in ice hockey. However, soft tissue injuries are very common.
Three-time Stanley cup winner and double Olympic gold medallist Sidney Crosby has known his fair share of injuries, including a long period out of the game due to several instances of concussion. In early 2012, however, CT and MRI scans to investigate concussion symptoms revealed a soft tissue injury that was causing swelling around his top two vertebrae and likely contributing to Crosby’s symptoms. Read all about his case here.
On MRI, a soft-tissue contusion may look like the image below. The arrow indicates a region of oedema (fluid accumulation) and haemorrhage within muscles around the cervical spine, which may lead to restriction of range of movement and pain in the spine.
Note: image is an example – not that of the athlete named above.
Although the precise nature of Crosby’s injury is not publicly known, soft tissue injuries can be caused by collision, overstretching or other unnatural movements. The interesting point in this case is that the injury was discovered during scans to investigate something else. Radiologists are experts in the normal appearance of anatomy on medical images. Regardless of what the suspected injury is, if the radiologist spots anything else on the image that looks suspicious, they will always include it in their report.
For more information about soft tissue neck injuries and associated strains, click here.