Clinics in sports medicine
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Strong statements regarding the efficacy of anti-inflammatory medication are based primarily on experience with rheumatic disease. Such experience, over 32 years, involving more than 400,000 injections in more than 12,000 patients, has led Hollander and associates to conclude that "no other form of treatment for arthritis has given such consistent local symptomatic relief in so many for so long with so few harmful effects." Such endorsement has not been clearly transferrable to sports medicine experience. Anti-inflammatory medications can unquestionably affect excessive inflammation. ⋯ Increasing knowledge of the pathobiology of sports injury and the various treatments required for complete recovery has led the experienced clinician to rely far less upon anti-inflammatory medication as a long-term solution. Nevertheless, until more biologically selective drugs become available, the judicious application of anti-inflammatory therapy remains a useful, albeit adjunctive therapy for sports injury. The successful clinical rationale is best arrived at not by random selection but by cautious individualized prescription.
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Upper extremity injuries in athletes cause pain, impairment of function, and time loss from sport participation. This article briefly discusses the epidemiology of elbow, forearm, and wrist injuries in various athletic endeavors. Included is an overview of the epidemiology of nerve dysfunction, tendon ruptures, fractures about the wrist and forearm, ligamentous injuries of the wrist, distal radioulnar joint injuries, and overuse injuries.