Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Dec;5(4):e24291.
doi: 10.5812/asjsm.24291. Epub 2014 Nov 10.

Are Fast-Bowlers Prone to Back Injuries? Prevalence of Lumbar Spine Injuries in Fast-Bowlers: Review of MRI-Based Studies

Manit Arora  1 , Justin A Paoloni  2 , P Kandwal  3 , A D Diwan  1
Affiliations

Are Fast-Bowlers Prone to Back Injuries? Prevalence of Lumbar Spine Injuries in Fast-Bowlers: Review of MRI-Based Studies

Manit Arora et al. Asian J Sports Med. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Fast-bowlers in cricket subject their spines to repetitive stress.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to review the prevalence of lumbar spine injuries among fast-bowlers.

Materials and methods: Medline and embase searches were performed. Further, the authors canvassed the reference list of available articles and used other search engines such as Google Scholar to identify a total of nine studies.

Results: The prevalence of lumbar disc degeneration in fast-bowlers ranges from 21-65% with an incidence rate of 15% per year, and the prevalence of lumbar spine bony abnormalities ranges from 24-81%. Factors associated with lumbar spine injury in fast-bowlers are classified into un-modifiable (age) and modifiable (more intense bowling workload and mixed-bowling technique).

Conclusions: Fast-bowlers have a high prevalence of lumbar spine injuries. Appropriate interventions, such as educational sessions, may be able to modify risk factors such as bowling workload and bowling technique and thus reduce injury prevalence.

Keywords: Athletes; Back Injury; Fast-Bowler; Spine Injury; Systematic Review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Prevalence of pars interarticularis injuries in fast-bowlers in various studies based on MRI findings. Overall range is 24-81%.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Stretch RA, Trella C. A 3-year investigation into the incidence and nature of cricket injuries in elite South African schoolboy cricketers. South Afr J Sports Med. 2012:10–4.
    1. Stretch RA. Cricket injuries: a longitudinal study of the nature of injuries to South African cricketers. Br J Sports Med. 2003;37(3):250–3. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stretch RA. The seasonal incidence and nature of injuries in schoolboy cricketers. S Afr Med J. 1995;85(11):1182–4. - PubMed
    1. Elliott B, Khangure M. Disk degeneration and fast bowling in cricket: an intervention study. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002;34(11):1714–8. doi: 10.1249/01.MSS.0000036863.74140.90. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Elliott BC, Hardcastle PH, Burnett AE,, et al. The influence of fast bowling and physical factors on radiologic features in high performance young fast bowlers. Sports Med Train Rehabil. 1992;3(1):113–30.

LinkOut - more resources