Medical resources deployed for the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar

Background: International sporting events such as the World Athletics (WA) competition require proper medical coverage to ensure the wellbeing of athletes, support teams, and spectators 1 . Several factors may have an impact on people's requirements for medical attention such as the climate, altitude, and intensity of the sporting competition on the athletes 2,3 . The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) held its 2019 competition in Doha, Qatar, and this study reports on the medical resources deployed to cover the event based on risk assessment. Case presentation: Although the competition was held for 10 days across two venues. The medical cover started 3 days earlier and also encompassed warm-up/training venues and official hotels (Table 1). It involved multiple healthcare organizations providing equipment, manpower, medical tents/clinics, and vehicles in case of transportation to the hospital was required. Results: Resources were allocated to various locations based on the risk assessment (Table 1) and depending on the number of people competing, training, or attending, and the size of the venue. Environmental factors were accounted for with the provision of cold-water immersion recovery baths at multiple locations and ample manpower with rostering of clinical staff from various relevant healthcare professions (Table 2). All resources were deployed on a rotational shift basis in the official locations well ahead of the start of each event until an hour or two after the completion of the event. Conclusion: Proper planning, communication, and collaboration among organizers, hosts, medical services providers, and other authorities play a vital role in the safety of athletes, support team members, and spectators. Such large events impose huge strain on the resources which can impact aspects of daily healthcare delivery to the rest of the community and hence need to be carefully considered. It is worth noting that the medical coverage provided was not overwhelmed by patient demand, hence; the medical coverage was appropriate

ACL injury incidence, severity and patterns in professional male soccer players in a Middle Eastern league

Aim: To ascertain ACL injury incidence, severity (injury burden) and patterns (contact/non-contact and reinjuries) in a professional male football league in the Middle East over five consecutive seasons. Methods: Prospective epidemiological study reporting ACL injuries in professional male soccer players in the Qatar Stars League, with complete matches/training exposure over five seasons (2013–2014 to 2017–2018), corresponding to 2243 player seasons and 729 team months. Results: 37 complete ACL ruptures occurred in 37 players during 486 951  hours of player exposure. The overall ACL injury rate was 0.076 injuries/1000  hours of exposure (season range 0.045–0.098). Injury incidence during matches and training was 0.41 and 0.04 injuries/1000  hours of exposure, respectively. Match injury incidence was greater than that of training (OR 11.8, 95%  CI 6.21 to 23.23, p<0.001). Average injury-related time-loss following ACL injury was 225 days±65 (range 116–360). Overall injury burden was 16.3 days lost/1000  hours of exposure. Conclusion: The overall ACL injury rate in professional male soccer players competing in the Middle East was 0.076 injuries/1000  hours of exposure, match injury incidence was greater than training, while the average ACL time-loss was 225 days

The injury mechanism correlation between MRI and video-analysis in professional football players with an acute ACL knee injury reveals consistent bone bruise patterns

Purpose To analyze the MRI features, in particular bone bruises pattern, of Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injured footballers, and to correlate them with the characteristics of injury mechanism and situation obtained from direct video footage. Methods Nineteen professional football (soccer) players that sustained ACL injury while playing during an official match of First League Championship were included in the study. The video of injury was obtained from the Television broadcast. Knee Magnetic Resonance (MRI) was obtained within 7 days from the injury. BB and meniscal lesions were analyzed on MRI, while a video-analysis of mechanisms of ACL injury and injury dynamic were assessed from the videos. Results The most commonly involved Bone Bruise areas in the knee were the Posterior Lateral Tibial Plateau (LTp) in 16 cases (84%) and the Central Lateral Femoral Condyle (LFc) in 11 cases (58%). Three patients (16%) had bone bruise in the Posterior Medial Tibial Plateau (MTp) while none (0%) had bone bruise in the Medial Femoral Condyle. Based on the bone bruise pattern, 11 (58%) had simultaneous LFc and LTp and were defined “Typical” while 8 (42%) had other locations or no bone bruise and were defined “Atypical”. 9 out of 11 injuries (82%) of athletes with “Typical” pattern occurred with a “Pivoting” action”, in contrast to only 1 case (12%) in those with “Atypical” bone bruise pattern (p = 0.0055). The most common situational mechanism pattern on video analysis was “pressing” (n = 7) accounting for the 47% of the “indirect” ACL injuries. In terms of movement pattern, ten injuries (52%) occurred during a “Pivoting” movement (7 pressing, 1 dribbling, 1 tackled, 1 goalkeeping), whereas the remaining were classified as “Planting” in four cases, “Direct Blow” in four cases and “Landing”. Conclusion A well-defined and consistent bone bruise pattern involving the posterior tibial plateau and central femoral condyle of lateral compartment is present in footballers that sustained non-contact and indirect ACL injuries during pivoting with sudden change of direction/deceleration, while heterogeneous patterns were present in those with direct contact or injury mechanisms involving high horizontal velocity. Level of evidence Level IV.Other Information Published in: Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00167-022-07002-6</p