The American journal of sports medicine
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Variations in ankle injury rates and distributions among competition levels are unclear, but such data may help inform strategies to prevent ankle sprains during American football. ⋯ Ankle sprain rates were highest in college athletes. However, level-specific variations in ankle sprain severity and recurrence may highlight the need to develop level-specific policies and prevention strategies to reduce injury incidence.
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Musculoskeletal injuries are prevalent among military trainees and certain occupations. Fitness and body mass index (BMI) have been associated with musculoskeletal conditions, including stress fractures. ⋯ The results indicate a significantly increased risk of musculoskeletal injuries, including stress fractures, among unfit recruits and an increased risk of non-stress fracture musculoskeletal injuries among recruits who exceeded body fat limits. Once injured, female recruits who were weight qualified but unfit and those who were fit but exceeded body fat limits had increased health care utilization. These findings may have implications for military accession and training policies as downsizing of military services will make it more important than ever to optimize the health and performance of individual service members.
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Few prospective studies have investigated the biomechanical risk factors of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. ⋯ Stiff landings, with less knee flexion and greater vGRF, in a VDJ test were associated with increased risk of ACL injury among young female basketball and floorball players. However, although 2 factors (decreased peak knee flexion and increased vGRF) had significant associations with ACL injury risk, the ROC curve analyses revealed that these variables cannot be used for screening of athletes.
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While midterm outcomes after matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI) are encouraging, the procedure permits an arthroscopic approach that may reduce the morbidity of arthrotomy and permit accelerated rehabilitation. ⋯ The arthroscopically performed MACI technique demonstrated good clinical and radiological outcomes up to 5 years, with high levels of patient satisfaction.
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Thumb collateral ligament injuries occur frequently in the National Football League (NFL). In the general population or in recreational athletes, pure metacarpophalangeal (MCP) abduction or adduction mechanisms yield isolated ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) and radial collateral ligament (RCL) tears, respectively, while NFL athletes may sustain combined mechanism injury patterns. ⋯ Simultaneous combined thumb UCL and RCL tear is a previously undescribed injury pattern that occurred in 25% of thumb MCP collateral ligament injuries on a single NFL team over a 23-year period. All players with combined thumb UCL/RCL injuries required surgical repair, which was significantly higher compared with players with isolated UCL injuries. Team physicians and hand surgeons treating elite football players with suspected thumb collateral ligament injuries should examine for RCL and UCL instability and consider MRI if any concern exists for a combined ligament injury pattern, as this injury is likely frequently missed.