Carolina Panthers’ QB Cam Newton’s Car Accident Shines Light on Transverse Process Fractures
The recent news of Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton suffering two transverse process fractures in his spine may not surprise anyone who watches the high-contact sport of football. But the fact that Newton sustained those spine injuries during a car accident might surprise some. Stories of these injuries have regularly consumed many a sports-media headline this season.
From Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo’s transverse process fracture at the outset of the season, to Baylor University’s star quarterback Bryce Petty’s fracture of two transverse processes during a particularly physical play, this type of traumatic spine injury may seem commonplace on the football field today. The truth about traumatic spine injuries, which is what transverse process fractures are, is that they can happen to anyone and at anytime. And if you’re an otherwise healthy man under the age of 35, you’re at an even greater risk. Let’s explore.
Located on each side of every vertebra in the spine is a bony “knob” that protrudes from the back of the vertebrae. These bony projections have a purpose. They function as the platforms that muscles and ligaments of the spine attach to. Though these bony structures are pretty well insulated from injury by the thick and protective muscle structures that attach to and surround them, they aren’t invincible. A fracture of the transverse process usually occurs one of two ways. The first is by sudden extreme side-bending or twisting movements. The second is due to a direct impact to the process itself. In Newton’s case, it is likely that the impact of the car crash resulted in his body twisting to protect itself in a way that his spine was not prepared for. When that happened, the muscle contracture against the spine was forceful enough to “chip off” or break a piece of bone from the transverse process.
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