Contemporary history of spine fractures following deck-slap

World Neurosurg · May 2024

Review Historical Article

Contemporary history of spine fractures following deck-slap injury: from deck blast during World War II naval battles to axial trauma during touristic speedboat sea cruise in 21st century.

In large-scale naval battles during World War II, sailors sometimes sustained serious lower limb injuries when explosion blast of sea mines was transmitted from underneath through the metal deck of the ships. Some of these sailors were thrown in the air due to the blast and sustained axial trauma of the spine when they landed on the hard deck, which was thus called a deck slap by Captain Joseph Barr in 1946, among others. ⋯ When the craft unexpectedly crosses the wake of another ship, tourists are thrown a few feet in the air before suffering a hard landing on their buttocks. This historical vignette is presented as a preventive message to help to reduce this poorly known yet avoidable "summer wave of vertebral fractures."

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- Nathan Beucler.
- Neurosurgery Department, Sainte-Anne Military Teaching Hospital, Toulon, France. Electronic address: nathan.beucler@neurochirurgie.fr.
- World Neurosurg. 2024 May 1; 185: 261266261-266.
AbstractIn large-scale naval battles during World War II, sailors sometimes sustained serious lower limb injuries when explosion blast of sea mines was transmitted from underneath through the metal deck of the ships. Some of these sailors were thrown in the air due to the blast and sustained axial trauma of the spine when they landed on the hard deck, which was thus called a deck slap by Captain Joseph Barr in 1946, among others. Nowadays, this peculiar mechanism has shifted to the civilian setting. Tourists unaware of the danger may sustain spine compression fractures when they sit at the bow of speed boats while underway on a calm sea. When the craft unexpectedly crosses the wake of another ship, tourists are thrown a few feet in the air before suffering a hard landing on their buttocks. This historical vignette is presented as a preventive message to help to reduce this poorly known yet avoidable "summer wave of vertebral fractures."Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Contemporary history of spine fractures following deck-slap injury: from deck blast during World War II naval battles to axial trauma during touristic speedboat sea cruise in 21st century.

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