Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine

PURPOSE: Midportion Achilles tendinopathy is a relatively common condition. This study aimed to investigate the presence of a normal Achilles tendon, but a tendinopathic plantaris tendon, in a large and consecutive prospective sample of patients referred to a specialised tendon clinic for midportion Achilles tendon pain not responding to non-surgical treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 105 consecutive tendons were operated on in 81 patients (62 males) suffering from painful midportion Achilles tendon pain...

Failure rates among primary Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction (ACLR) range from 3.2% to 11.1%. Recently, there has been increased focus on surgical and anatomic considerations which predispose patients to failure, including excessive posterior tibial slope (PTS), unaddressed high-grade pivot shift, and improper tunnel placement. The purpose of this review was to provide a current summary and analysis of the literature regarding patient-related and technical factors surrounding revision ACLR, rehabilitation considerations, overall outcomes and return to sport (RTS) for patients who undergo revision ACLR...

OBJECTIVE: Social distancing protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in premature ending of athletic seasons and cancellation of upcoming seasons, placing significant stress on young athletes. Inability to play or forced early retirement has significant consequences on athlete's mental health, as demonstrated by an extensive body of injury literature. We hypothesize that premature suspension and cancellation of athletic events due to the COVID-19 pandemic leads to higher incidence of depressive symptoms among high-school and collegiate athletes...

PURPOSE: Endurance sports performance is influenced by several factors, including maximal oxygen uptake (⩒O2 max), the percentage of ⩒O2 max that can be sustained in endurance events, running economy, and body composition. Traditionally, ⩒O2 max can be measured as an absolute value, adjusted for body mass, reflecting the athlete's central capacity (maximal cardiac output), or adjusted for lean mass (LM), reflecting the athlete's peripheral capacity (muscular oxidative capacity)...

OBJECTIVE: Lower extremity ankle and knee injuries occur at a high rate in the National Basketball Association (NBA) often requiring surgical intervention. This study aimed to identify surgical rates and risk factors for surgical intervention using multivariate analysis in ankle and knee injuries in NBA player. METHODS: Player demographics, performance metrics, advanced statistics, and injury characteristics were recorded using publicly available data. To standardize injury events over multiple years, injury events per 1000 athlete exposure events (AE, one player participating in one game) were calculated...

AIM: Although it has been previously observed that sedentary behavior (SB) was not related to training duration in marathon runners, little information existed about the relationship of SB with training, anthropometric and physiological characteristics in this population. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of SB and its correlation with performance parameters (such as body fat percentage, maximal oxygen uptake and weekly training volume) as well as its variation by sex and day (ie, weekdays versus weekend) in recreational marathon runners...

Stress fractures of the first rib are uncommon and thought to be associated with overhead-throwing athletes. Soft tennis is similar to regular tennis but uses a much softer rubber ball. In the current report, a 14-year-old girl suffered from shoulder girdle pain, especially at the end of her tennis ground stroke. Plain radiographs showed overgrowth of bone with a fracture line on the first rib, and a diagnosis of stress fracture was made. She was advised to amend her stroke form to reduce force to the shoulder and was able to continue sports activity without pain 10 months after the appearance of her symptoms and before confirmation of bone healing...

PURPOSE: The Athlete Sleep Behavior Questionnaire (ASBQ) is an 18-item self-reported questionnaire that can be used to screen for sleep disorders in athletes and assess environmental, behavioral, and sports-related factors along with sleep disorders. This study aimed to analyze the reliability and validity of the ASBQ translated into Japanese (ASBQ-J). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 111 female collegiate athletes completed both the initial test and retest. Independent variables were what kind of sports they perform, level as an athlete, grade (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior), and age...

PURPOSE: The SpeedCourt system has been confirmed as an effective and dependable tool for evaluating multi-directional change-of-direction (COD) maneuvers. It has also been employed in the rehabilitation process following Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries and for multi-directional training purposes. This study investigated by means of the SpeedCourt system determines 1) whether there is any difference in COD parameters and countermovement jumps (CMJ) between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and non-UAE professional footballers 2) whether there is any difference between the two lower limbs during change-of-direction manoeuvres...

PURPOSE: Wingfoiling is a new popular water sport. Data on the risk of injury or overuse injuries are not yet available. The aim of the study was to analyze the incidence, mechanisms and risk factors for wingfoiling related injuries and the acceptance of safety equipment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data for this retrospective study were collected through an online standardized questionnaire. It was accessible from January 2022 to June 2022. Information on demographics, injury history, overuse complaints, use of (safety)equipment and fitness routines over the past 12 months were asked...

The present study aimed to review the physiological aspects of adolescent track-and-field (TAF) athletes. A search of Scopus on 27/12/2022 using the syntax ABS (track-and-field) AND ABS (children) OR ABS (adolescent) showed 121 documents, and 45 were considered for further analysis. In addition, handsearching was conducted to identify Russian literature missing in Scopus. Differences were shown in performance characteristics among disciplines, especially between throwers and the other athletes. The sex difference in performance (ie, a better performance in boys than in girls) started in early adolescence...

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the prevalence and nature of injuries and their risk factors in calisthenics to, therefore, inform the practitioner what to expect from these athletes. METHODS: This study was an online cross-sectional survey of calisthenics athletes. Data were collected online and the survey was distributed via social media over six months in 2020. The purpose-built survey consisted of demographic, training and loading questions. Participants were provided with an injury definition and reported their total number of injuries sustained during calisthenics including detailed information on three most significant injuries, along with mechanism of injury and risk factors...

PURPOSE: Ankle injuries are frequent sports injuries. Despite optimizing treatment strategies during recent years, the percentage of chronification following an ankle sprain remains high. The purpose of this review article is, to highlight current epidemiological, clinical and novel advanced cross-sectional imaging trends that may help to evaluate ankle sprain injuries. METHODS: Systematic PubMed literature research. Identification and review of studies (i) analyzing and describing ankle sprain and (ii) focusing on advanced cross-sectional imaging techniques at the ankle...

PURPOSE: Torn anterior cruciate ligaments in children are rare injuries. The incidence of concomitant avulsion fracture in the skeletally immature patient is high. Reports of arthroscopic reconstruction in the literature are sparse. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a femoral avulsion fracture of the anterior cruciate ligament in a seven-year-old girl. The patient underwent arthroscopic refixation with DynacordTM Suture and Suture Button. At a follow-up of 8 weeks, the patient had free range of motion and a stable knee, with a negative Lachman- and Pivot-Shift-test in particular...

INTRODUCTION: Little is known regarding medical knowledge pertaining to female athletes among track and field coaches and their interactions with female athletes regarding medical problems. METHODS: Participants were track and field coaches (369 males and 43 females) with Japan Sport Association certification and they completed an anonymous survey on their knowledge of medical problems pertinent to female athletes including whether the coaches knew about the female athlete triad and relative energy deficiency in sports; their feelings about female athletes' use of contraceptive pills; whether they speak about menses with the female athletes; and whether they have a gynecologist for consultation regarding their medical problems...

PURPOSE: Determining the effects of early specialization in a specific sport is difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate its effects based on the type of sports. The purpose of this study was to investigate the proportion of participants who had been participating in a single sport, in individual or team sports from an early age and to compared the prevalence of acute and overuse injuries among these participants. METHODS: A total of 1377 adult participants (team sports = 700, individual sports = 637) retrospectively completed a questionnaire assessing sports participation from elementary school to high school and injury history (acute and overuse) at high school age...

Pitching is a complex kinetic chain activity requiring the transfer of energy from the lower body, through the core and trunk, and finally through the arm to generate explosive acceleration of the baseball. As a result, large forces are generated in the trunk musculature and rib attachments from the late cocking phase of pitching through deceleration. The repetitive cumulative load and high pitch velocities put professional pitchers at risk of rib stress fracture. Given the potential for a prolonged recovery course and high rate of recurrence, early recognition of rib bone stress injury is critical to optimize care...

Objective: This interview-based thematic analysis examines the evolving professional identities and practices of osteopathic physicians (DOs) in North American professional sports (baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer) to understand the extent to which DOs employ osteopathic-specific skill sets in their work with player-patients. In addition, the study sought to understand the prevalence of professional bias, interprofessional dynamics between DOs and other health professionals, and other factors such as management...

Background: Young athletes are at increasing risk for spinal column injuries due to overloading the spine with excessive sports activities, with potential development of complications later in life. Purpose: The purpose of this 2-year follow-up study of young elite skiers and non-athletes was to investigate any potential change in the thoraco-lumbar findings on MRI and to outline any change in back pain prevalence with continuing sporting activity and age. Study Design: Longitudinal cross-sectional study...

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is a common sporting-related knee injury with a potentially detrimental impact on the athlete's career, yet there is no formal consensus on the optimal graft choice for reconstructing the ruptured ACL in this specific population. Options for reconstruction include autograft, allograft, and artificial grafts. However, each has associated failure risk and donor site morbidity. Our operational definition of the athlete is a skeletally mature individual participating in high level activity with the expectation to return to pre-injury level of activity...