The importance of early arthroscopy in athletes with painful cartilage lesions of the ankle: a prospective study of 61 consecutive cases

BACKGROUND Ankle sprains are common in sports and can sometimes result in a persistent pain condition. PURPOSE Primarily to evaluate clinical symptoms, signs, diagnostics and outcomes of surgery for symptomatic chondral injuries of the talo crural joint in athletes. Secondly, in applicable cases, to evaluate the accuracy of MRI in detecting these injuries. Type of study: Prospective consecutive series. METHODS Over around 4 years we studied 61 consecutive athletes with symptomatic chondral lesions to the talocrural joint causing persistent exertion ankle pain. RESULTS 43% were professional full time athletes and 67% were semi-professional, elite or amateur athletes, main sports being soccer (49%) and rugby (14%). The main subjective complaint was exertion ankle pain (93%). Effusion (75%) and joint line tenderness on palpation (92%) were the most common clinical findings. The duration from injury to arthroscopy for 58/61 cases was 7 months (5.7–7.9). 3/61 cases were referred within 3 weeks from injury. There were in total 75 cartilage lesions. Of these, 52 were located on the Talus dome, 17 on the medial malleolus and 6 on the Tibia plafond. Of the Talus dome injuries 18 were anteromedial, 14 anterolateral, 9 posteromedial, 3 posterolateral and 8 affecting mid talus. 50% were grade 4 lesions, 13.3% grade 3, 16.7% grade 2 and 20% grade 1. MRI had been performed pre operatively in 26/61 (39%) and 59% of these had been interpreted as normal. Detection rate of cartilage lesions was only 19%, but subchondral oedema was present in 55%. At clinical follow up average 24 months after surgery (10–48 months), 73% were playing at pre-injury level. The average return to that level of sports after surgery was 16 weeks (3–32 weeks). However 43% still suffered minor symptoms. CONCLUSION Arthroscopy should be considered early when an athlete presents with exertion ankle pain, effusion and joint line tenderness on palpation after a previous sprain. Conventional MRI is not reliable for detecting isolated cartilage lesions, but the presence of subchondral oedema should raise such suspicion

Does a SLAP lesion affect shoulder muscle recruitment as measured by EMG activity during a rugby tackle?

Background: The study objective was to assess the influence of a SLAP lesion on onset of EMG activity in shoulder muscles during a front on rugby football tackle within professional rugby players. Methods: Mixed cross-sectional study evaluating between and within group differences in EMG onset times. Testing was carried out within the physiotherapy department of a university sports medicine clinic. The test group consisted of 7 players with clinically diagnosed SLAP lesions, later verified on arthroscopy. The reference group consisted of 15 uninjured and full time professional rugby players from within the same playing squad. Controlled tackles were performed against a tackle dummy. Onset of EMG activity was assessed from surface EMG of Pectorialis Major, Biceps Brachii, Latissimus Dorsi, Serratus Anterior and Infraspinatus muscles relative to time of impact. Analysis of differences in activation timing between muscles and limbs (injured versus non-injured side and non injured side versus matched reference group). Results: Serratus Anterior was activated prior to all other muscles in all (P = 0.001-0.03) subjects. In the SLAP injured shoulder Biceps was activated later than in the non-injured side. Onset times of all muscles of the noninjured shoulder in the injured player were consistently earlier compared with the reference group. Whereas, within the injured shoulder, all muscle activation timings were later than in the reference group. Conclusions: This study shows that in shoulders with a SLAP lesion there is a trend towards delay in activation time of Biceps and other muscles with the exception of an associated earlier onset of activation of Serratus anterior, possibly due to a coping strategy to protect glenohumeral stability and thoraco-scapular stability. This trend was not statistically significant in all cases

Health systems research in Lao PDR: capacity development for getting research into policy and practice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lao PDR is a low-income country with an urgent need for evidence-informed policymaking in the healthcare sector. During the last decade a number of Health Systems Research (HSR) projects have been conducted in order to meet this need. However, although knowledge about research is increasing among policymakers, the use of research in policymaking is still limited.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This article investigates the relationship between research and policymaking from the perspective of those participating in HSR projects. The study is based on 28 interviews, two group discussions and the responses from 56 questionnaires.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The interviewees and questionnaire respondents were aware of the barriers to getting research into policy and practice. But while some were optimistic, claiming that there had been a change of attitudes among policymakers in the last two years, others were more pessimistic and did not expect any real changes until years from now. The major barriers to feeding research results into policy and practice included an inability to influence the policy process and to get policymakers and practitioners interested in research results. Another barrier was the lack of continuous capacity development and high-quality research, both of which are related to funding and international support. Many of the interviewees and questionnaire respondents also pointed out that communication between those conducting research and policymakers must be improved.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results show that in the case of Lao PDR, research capacity development is at a crucial stage for implementing research into policy and practice. If research is going to make a consistent impact on policymaking in the Lao health care sector, the attitude towards research will need to be changed in order to get research prioritised, both among those conducting research, and among policymakers and practitioners. Our findings indicate that there is awareness about the barriers in this process.</p

Justify your alpha

Benjamin et al. proposed changing the conventional “statistical significance” threshold (i.e.,the alpha level) from p ≤ .05 to p ≤ .005 for all novel claims with relatively low prior odds. They provided two arguments for why lowering the significance threshold would “immediately improve the reproducibility of scientific research.” First, a p-value near .05provides weak evidence for the alternative hypothesis. Second, under certain assumptions, an alpha of .05 leads to high false positive report probabilities (FPRP2 ; the probability that a significant finding is a false positive

Justify your alpha

In response to recommendations to redefine statistical significance to p ≤ .005, we propose that researchers should transparently report and justify all choices they make when designing a study, including the alpha level

Injuries among professional soccer players of different age groups: A prospective four-year study in an English Premier League Football Club

Background: There are very few studies that compare the incidence and type of injuries in youth and senior elite soccer players with similar training and playing conditions over a sustained period of time. Hypothesis: The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the incidence and severity of injuries sustained by the senior and youth team soccer players at an English Premiership Football Club over four years. Study design: Prospective and descriptive study. Data related to the occurrence, severity and location of injury, and how they affected participation in training and games, were collected for both groups over four years. Methods: Injuries were prospectively recorded by the club's medical staff on a standardised database. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS. Results: There were 191 injuries in the senior team (85 players) and 236 in the youth team (112 players). All senior players sustained at least one recordable injury, compared with 110 injured players out of 112 in the youth team. The injury incidence during games was 23.2 injuries per 1000 hours in the senior team and 25.0 injuries per 1000 hours in the youth team, which was higher than that during training (4.2 injuries per 1000 training hours in senior team, 6.1 injuries per 1000 training hours in the youth team). There was no significant difference in absence per injury between the senior team (average 27.7 days) and the youth team (average 28.7 days). The knee (24%) and thigh (22%) represented the most common locations of injury in the senior team, whilst in the youth team the knee (19%) and ankle (19%) were most frequently injured. Conclusions: Although there is a slightly different injury pattern between senior and youth team players, the consequences for participation in training and games in the senior and youth team players of this English Premier Football Club are similar. Clinical relevance: Youth team players are selected by Premier League Football Clubs with the ultimate aim to establish themselves in the first team squad. Injury, at such an important stage of their career development could significantly influence this progression

Anterior internal impingement of the shoulder in rugby players and other overhead athletes

Background/Objective: Impingement syndromes are a common cause of shoulder pain in overhead athletes. Anterior internal impingement is a recently suggested mechanism for activity-related pain of the shoulder. Impingement syndromes were initially described to occur due to repetitive or excessive contact between the rotator cuff and other structures in the shoulder. Methods: This is a retrospective, clinical case study reporting 54 consecutive cases of anterior internal impingement in overhead athletes, of which 28 (51.2%) cases were of rugby players. All had undergone physiotherapy without relief of the symptoms. Of 54, there were 45 male and 9 female patients with an average age of 27 years (range, 17–51). The mean duration from injury to surgery was 40.7 weeks (range, 5–364). Of the 54 patients, 29 (53.7%) were full-time professional and 25 (46.3%) were semiprofessional or recreational athletes. The players associated the onset of pain occurred following an injury in 29/54 cases (53.4%), whereas in the remaining 25 cases (46.2%), a gradual onset of symptoms was described. All 54 patients could demonstrate a “functional impingement sign” in positioning their arm and provoke pain. Result: On examination, the examiner could reproduce the same pain in 38/54 (70.3%) patients only. Of the 54 patients, “SLAP tests” including O’Brien’s test, Palm up test, and compression rotation test were positive in shoulders of 39 (72.2 %) patients, Jobe’s test in 27 (50%), Gerber’s lift off test in 6 (11%), and Hawkin’s test in 6 (11%) patients. During arthroscopic assessment, impinging flap tears were found in 44 (81.4%) patients from the SLAP, whereas undersurface rotator cuff flap tears were found in 24 (44.4%), flap tears from the anterior or inferior labrum were found in 16 (29.6%), and distal subscapularis flap tears were found in 10 (18.5%) patients. Only in 12/54 patients (22.2%) was an isolated pathology found, in all cases SLAP tears. Treatment included vaporisation and excision of the impinging flaps. In 15/54 (27.7%) patients, repair of an unstable SLAP tear was undertaken using absorbable suture anchors and fibre wires. All athletes returned to their previous activity level within 17.2 weeks (range, 6–36) from surgery and were discharged when they claimed that they were symptom free. Conclusion: This series of anterior internal impingement, which we believe is the largest in the literature to date, demonstrates the value of an to assess and successfully treat overhead athletes with anterior impingement syndrome