Neurosurgeon Dr. Steven Spitz Discusses the Risks of Roller Coasters

So can you explain how this whole thing works? Because this kid literally got off the roller coaster and collapsed, went to the hospital and died. Yeah, so the brain is basically an organ. It's within a fluid area within a rigid skull. So what can happen during these acceleration, deceleration injuries is when your head is whipped back really fast or more likely side to side or rotationally, the brain is moving inside of the skull and it can go backwards and forwards. So the brain is squishy and it can hit against rigid brain or rigid skull structures, which can sometimes tear these little vessels called bridging veins that go from the brain to the dural, which is the lining of the skull. Now, when that happens, the brain can, or the blood vessels will leak and the blood will go in between the brain and the skull and it can start pushing on the brain. If you look at the numbers, we were talking about it this morning that, yes, there have been two fatalities. One woman remains in a coma right now and other severe injuries, but thousands and thousands of people ride this. So are we talking about a statistical anomaly? Obviously it is not for the families of those people who suffered those injuries, but for the average person going there, is it kind of like how people say air travel is extremely safe, yet despite the fact that we see tragedies happen there, is this kind of the same thing? That's really hard to say. I mean, the thing is, I mean, they have all happened in similar fashion and similar mechanisms. So it is an extreme roller coaster with extreme Gs. So it seems as if there's a lot of lateral movement, a lot of forward linear movement and up and down movement. So if you subject somebody to an extreme amount of Gs, like four Gs for several seconds, it can cause injury to the brain. In this certain scenario, yeah, I mean, there are thousands of people who ride the ride and there are risk factors. Like if you are older age, you have more fragile vessels. If you're dehydrated, if you have been drinking all day and then you go on the ride, that kind of shrinks the brain within the skull. So it allows the brain to move even more freely within that fluid area of the skull, causing it to shift even more, more likely to cause some of those little bridging veins to tear. It just feels like this is part of the risk of getting on any roller coaster. I mean, I think I would agree. I mean, I honestly, I don't know the statistics except other roller coasters causing these types of injuries. It seems like this one may be more of an anomaly just because of the sheer type of G forces that are used on this type of roller coaster. But yeah, I mean, I tell patients all the time, especially if they've had neck surgery or any low back surgery, I don't want them going on a roller coaster. I've actually said that because, you know, they are going through extreme Gs, especially some of the older wooden coasters. You're being jostled around quite a bit. So yeah, that can cause a neck injury. It can cause a low back injury. And certainly like the eggshell skull, if you have an eggshell neck, then that certainly can cause a whiplash injury or a neck injury if you're susceptible. You just don't know. No one gets MRIs before going onto a roller coaster.