Sports health
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Sudden cardiac death (SCD) events are tragic. Secondary prevention of SCD depends on availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). High school athletes represent a high-risk group for SCD, and current efforts aim to place AEDs in all high schools. ⋯ Rural high schools inherently have longer EMS response times. In addition to obtaining AEDs, high schools must develop a public access to defibrillation program to maximize the chance of survival following cardiac arrest, especially in rural settings.
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Sports-related injuries of the foot are common and may result in significant morbidity, particularly if inaccurate or delayed diagnosis leads to improper management. While less common than injuries of the ankle, sports-related foot injuries account for 2% to 18% of athletic injuries. ⋯ While radiographs, computerized tomography scans, and ultrasound are useful in the evaluation of the foot, magnetic resonance imaging provides superior tissue contrast as well as the ability to detect stress reaction in bone that precedes discernible fracture line on radiographs, allowing accurate detection of both osseous and soft tissue pathology. This review focuses on imaging of common sports-related injuries of the midfoot and forefoot, including osseous, ligamentous, and tendinous pathology, with emphasis on magnetic resonance imaging diagnosis.
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The shoulder is the most commonly dislocated joint, and shoulder dislocations are very common in sports. Many of these dislocations present to the office or training room for evaluation. Usual practice is an attempt at manual reduction without analgesia and then transfer to the emergency department if unsuccessful. The clinical efficacy of intra-articular lidocaine for reduction of anterior shoulder dislocations in the outpatient setting was examined. ⋯ According to current evidence, the use of intra-articular lidocaine injection for reduction of anterior shoulder dislocations is not harmful and is likely advantageous in the outpatient clinical setting.
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The impetus for the use of patellar straps in the treatment of patellar tendinopathy has largely been based on empirical evidence and not on any mechanistic rationale. A computational model suggests that patellar tendinopathy may be a result of high localized tendon strains that occur at smaller patella-patellar tendon angles (PPTAs). ⋯ The use of infrapatellar straps may help prevent excessive localized tendon strains at the site of the jumper's knee lesion during a jump landing.