I see this type of horseplay all the time. Just at the pool today I saw a dad playfully push his son into 3.5 feet of water, of course the kid landed on his feet. What I would like to know, and probably will not find out, is if there was alcohol involved. Her reaction time and likelihood of losing body control after the push is much higher in that case. Very very sad.
Once in the ER this teenager comes in with neck pain for a week. He tells me that it occurred a week prior after diving into a shallow pool and hitting his head on the bottom. Bear in mind that he is walking around, doing his normal stuff. Like any doctor with half a brain I did a CT scan, and this kid had an awful cervical fracture. I was absolutely stunned he had been walking around, swimming, etc. for the past week and gotten away with it. The fracture was comminuted, it was broken in 2 places of the posterior arch, meaning the bone was free to move and impinge or lacerate the spinal cord in the right circumstance.
The kid's mom was kind of odd, immediately started defending her decision not to have him seen sooner (even though I had made no accusations). This is one type of injury for which you should NEVER take a wait and watch approach.
I see this type of horseplay all the time. Just at the pool today I saw a dad playfully push his son into 3.5 feet of water, of course the kid landed on his feet. What I would like to know, and probably will not find out, is if there was alcohol involved. Her reaction time and likelihood of losing body control after the push is much higher in that case. Very very sad.
Once in the ER this teenager comes in with neck pain for a week. He tells me that it occurred a week prior after diving into a shallow pool and hitting his head on the bottom. Bear in mind that he is walking around, doing his normal stuff. Like any doctor with half a brain I did a CT scan, and this kid had an awful cervical fracture. I was absolutely stunned he had been walking around, swimming, etc. for the past week and gotten away with it. The fracture was comminuted, it was broken in 2 places of the posterior arch, meaning the bone was free to move and impinge or lacerate the spinal cord in the right circumstance.
The kid's mom was kind of odd, immediately started defending her decision not to have him seen sooner (even though I had made no accusations). This is one type of injury for which you should NEVER take a wait and watch approach.
