The American journal of sports medicine
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Several studies have reported that physical loading related to competitive sports activities is associated with lumbar intervertebral disk degeneration. However, the association between types of sports activities and disk degeneration has not been clarified. ⋯ Continuous competitive baseball and swimming activities during youth may be associated with disk degeneration. Furthermore, the study indicates that the experience of severe low back pain might be a predictor of disk degeneration in youth. The authors hope that preventive measures and management to protect against disk degeneration and low back pain in athletes will be established by further studies based on these results.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Knee immobilization for pain control after a hamstring tendon anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a randomized clinical trial.
This study will attempt to evaluate the efficacy of knee immobilization on patient pain levels after an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. ⋯ No differences in pain or any of the secondary outcomes were detected between immobilized and nonimmobilized patients at any point during the first 14 days after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
A prospective study of autologous chondrocyte implantation in patients with failed prior treatment for articular cartilage defect of the knee: results of the Study of the Treatment of Articular Repair (STAR) clinical trial.
This is a prospective clinical study to assess the effectiveness of autologous chondrocyte implantation in patients who failed prior treatments for articular cartilage defects of the knee. ⋯ Patients with moderate to large chondral lesions with failed prior cartilage treatments can expect sustained and clinically meaningful improvement in pain and function after autologous chondrocyte implantation. The subsequent surgical procedure rate observed in this study (49% overall; 40% related to autologous chondrocyte implantation) appears higher than generally reported after autologous chondrocyte implantation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Femoral nerve blockade as a preemptive anesthetic in patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study.
Femoral nerve blockade has been purported to be an effective regional anesthetic in patients undergoing various procedures to lower extremities. ⋯ A preemptive femoral nerve blockade, although safe, does not provide significant clinical benefit in this patient population to justify its routine use.
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Comparative Study
Semitendinosus tendon graft versus a modified Weaver-Dunn procedure for acromioclavicular joint reconstruction in chronic cases: a prospective comparative study.
Biomechanical studies comparing various surgical techniques for acromioclavicular joint reconstruction have reported that semitendinosus tendon graft for coracoclavicular ligament reconstruction provides a substantial improvement in initial stability and a load-to-failure equivalent to the intact coracoclavicular ligaments. Although it represents a biomechanical improvement compared with coracoacromial ligament transfer, there is still a lack of prospective comparative studies confirming the clinical relevance of these biomechanical findings. ⋯ Semitendinosus tendon graft for coracoclavicular ligament reconstruction resulted in significantly superior clinical and radiologic outcomes compared to the modified Weaver-Dunn procedure.