Articles

Background: To determine the spectrum of shoulder pathologies suffered by surfers. Methods: Prospective descriptive study. Surfers with shoulder injuries who were referred to a sub-speciality orthopaedic shoulder private practice situated on the Northern beaches of Sydney (Australia) were recruited over a three-year period. Results: 42 shoulders in 37 subjects were included-12 acute injuries (29.3%), 9 acute on chronic (22%) and 20 chronic injuries. Average age 48 years (range 20-72 years). Seventeen subjects (46%) had manual occupations and 20 subjects (54%) had office-based occupations. Spectrum of pathologies included rotator cuff tendon tears, long head of biceps tendon pathology, labral tears, acromioclavicular and glenohumeral joint osteoarthritis. Discussion: There is a wide spectrum of acute and chronic shoulder injuries sustained by surfers. The most common presentation was for chronic pathology. The average age of 48 suggests that age may play a role in attritional/degenerative change and therefore an increased likelihood of injury.

The purpose of the present study was to experimentally assess the effect of cognitive strategies of association and dissociation while running on central nervous activation. A total of 30 long distance runners volunteered for the study. The study protocol consisted on three sessions (scheduled in three different days): (1) maximal incremental treadmill test, (2) associative task session, and (3) dissociative task session. The order of sessions 2 and 3 was counterbalanced. During sessions 2 and 3, participants performed a 55 min treadmill run at moderate intensity. Both, associative and dissociative tasks responses were monitoring and recording in real time through dynamic measure tools. Consequently, was possible to have an objective control of the attentional. Results showed a positive session (exercise+attentional task) effect for central nervous activation. The benefits of aerobic exercise at moderate intensity for the performance of self-regulation cognitive tasks are highlighted. The used methodology is proposed as a valid and dynamic option to study cognitions while running in order to overcome the retrospective approach.

Background: With the development of sports science and badminton equipment, the roles of badminton shoes, such as to alter lower - extremity biomechanical parameters, prevent sports injuries and enhance performance, were confirmed by a mass of studies. Methods: In this study, a serial of methods including literature review, visualization analysis, mathematical statistics, are used to describe the progresses of the badminton shoes relate to exercise in some training aspects, which can be searched by CNKI and SCOPUS databases. Results: Among the exiting research, most mainly focused on evaluation and design of badminton shoes, sports injuries and performance, some have tested and verified the roles mechanism of badminton shoes. However, there are still some disadvantages to can’t ignore, such as the quantities of studies the designed level and the mechanism exploration. Conclusions: To sum up, the roles of the badminton shoes in sports training still need to be explored and confirmed.

As people get older, chronic diseases become an important reason of disability while a decline in physical functions is related to aging among the elders, which may lead to dependency and isolation of the older adults. Body asymmetry and imbalance body alignment can bring added stress to the joint structures that can cause dysfunction of the joint, ligaments, tendons, bursas, and related muscles, which in return brings about problem while walking or during activities of daily living. Joint Functional Screening (JFS) is a systemic clinical examination with clinical reasoning of the entire human joints body, with or without causative limitation to derive a holistic analysis of musculoskeletal system. JFS profile helps to assess body disorder of older people. This clinical screening include documentation of balance of the body, lower and upper body strength, joints flexibility, body composition, and body alignment. This is an innovation build to profile a normal musculoskeletal state to decode any anomaly in an otherwise a normal subject, who might be preparing to take up any activities in one’s lifespan that could elicit an injury which could be prevented. JFS could be a useful tool for physiotherapists, exercise therapist or even the personal trainers to screen a body prior to rehabilitative or an exercise program; and this clinical screening is presently a best guidance to prevent risk of fall or injury among individual healthy people and older adult.

Background: There is paucity in studies reporting long-term results following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture. A UK national ligament registry (NLR) designed to collect demographic, clinical and outcome data on patients undergoing ACL reconstruction was launched in 2013. There was therefore an emergent question on the role of such registry as an additional source of evidence. Study aims: A framework analysis aimed to provide a basis for the evaluation of outcomes following ACL management and formulate a structure of the evidence, which can be derived from the registry. Methods: A systematic approach was adopted to select relevant studies. Qualitative thematic and meta-narrative analyses were conducted. Level-1 registry data were recorded for all primary ACL reconstruction procedures from January to June 2016. Registry data content and validity were evaluated. Results: Seven studies were suitable for analyses yet none defined the pattern of meniscal injury following initial treatment. When reported the incidence varied markedly between 23% and 80%. There was evidence of collection of at least one principal outcome measure in at least 85% of participants across all studies. Thematic analysis identified four key domains of outcome measures (1) intervention selection, (2) Knee stability evaluation, (3) Patient reported outcomes, (4) Radiographic evaluation and risk of secondary osteoarthritis. Graft choice, rate of meniscal and chondral injuries and cumulative risk of revision surgery had incomplete and inconsistent reports. Comparison of demographic and clinical data with the first registry report demonstrated: predominately younger patient population; older female patients at time of intervention; and higher incidence of meniscal tears. Conclusions: Registry data driven quality and research improvement open a new paradigm in ACL reconstruction evidence base and future practice. Early observations have consolidated the importance of associated meniscal injuries in the management of ACL rupture. Further work is needed to improve registry data completeness, accuracy and validity. A proposed data migration process using available technologies can help harmonise data collection without the added burden on clinical services.

Time-efficient screening of lower extremity biomechanics to identify potential injurious movement patterns is crucial within athletic medicine settings. When considering biomechanical risk factors for anterior cruciate ligament injuries, several screening tests have been used to assess dynamic knee valgus. Current methods involving 3-dimensional motion capture systems are considered gold standard for such assessment; however, these methods are time consuming and require expensive materials. This study investigated the use of 2-dimentional kinematic evaluation during a standardized vertical jump athletic assessment to screen for potential lower extremity risk of injury. 50 collegiate athletes, 25 male and 25 female, from various sports participated in the study. The vertical jump was chosen because it is a common performance evaluation test that is regularly performed several times a year, providing consistent opportunities for screening while not creating additional obligations for the student athletes. Results showed that the 2-dimentional evaluation method had strong correlations (P<0.0001) with the gold standard 3-dimensional evaluation, suggesting that an accelerated 2-dimentional screening process can be used as a first step to screen for potential injurious lower extremity movement patterns.

Background: Experimentally-induced delayed-onset muscle soreness of large muscle groups is frequently used in as an injurious model of muscle pain. We wanted to develop an experimental model of DOMS to to mimic overuse injuries from sports where repeated finger flexion activity is vital such as rock climbing. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the utility of a ‘finger trigger device’ to induce DOMS in the fingers, hands, wrists and lower arms. Methods: A convenient sample of six participants completed an experiment in which they undertook finger exercises to exhaustion after which measurements of pain, skin sensitivity to fine touch, forearm circumference and grip strength in the hand, wrist and forearm were taken from the experimental and contralateral non-exercised (control) arms. Results: Pain intensity was greater in the experimental arm at rest and on movement when compared with the control arm up to 24 hours after exercise, although the location of pain varied between participants. Pressure pain threshold was significantly lower in the experimental arm compared with the control arm immediately after exercises locations close to the medial epicondyle but not at other locations. There were no statistical significant differences between affected and non-affected limbs for mechanical detection threshold, forearm circumference or grip strength. Conclusion: Repetitive finger flexion exercises of the index finger by pulling a trigger against a resistance can induced DOMS. We are currently undertaking a more detailed characterization of sensory and motor changes following repetitive finger flexion activity using a larger sample.

Most patients with anterolateral ankle pain report some history of trauma as the precipitating event. In the majority of cases of anterolateral ankle pain with no history of trauma the cause is proliferative synovitis, especially in the area of the anteroinferior tibiofibular ligament [1,2]. Our case report is about a patient with anterolateral ankle pain and snapping, with no history of trauma, caused by an abnormal peroneal tertius muscle belly. We have found only one similar case reported in the literature [3]. That particular case was treated with arthroscopic resection, which requires specialist arthroscopic skills. In our case we have done an open resection, which can be safely performed by most surgeons.

The Sit-to-Stand test (STST) involves comparing the change in a person’s non-weight-bearing and weight-bearing foot posture to quickly classify a person’s overall foot mobility. Despite the simplicity of the test, its reliability and validity has not been established. The purpose of this study is to determine the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the STST as well as its validity. Ninety-seven subjects with a mean age of 25 years (±3.7) participated in the study. Each subject’s foot posture from non-weight-bearing to weight-bearing was evaluated by two different raters. Each rater classified each subject’s change in foot posture as “Hypomobile”, “Normal” or “Hypermobile”. This same procedure was repeated approximately one week later without the raters being able to review what their original classification for that subject had been. The subjects also had their foot mobility quantified by measuring the height and width of their dorsal arch in both non-weight-bearing and weight-bearing. These quantitative measures of foot mobility were then classified as “Hypomobile”, “Normal”, or “Hypermobile” using quartiles. A series of Cohen’s Kappa coefficients were used to assess the amount of agreement between the visual classifications by each rater as well as the classification between the observational and objective classifications. The between-day Kappa coefficients ranged from 0.613 to 0.719 and the inter-rater Kappa coefficients ranged from 0.473 to 0.531. The Kappa coefficients between the visual and quantitative classifications ranged from 0.281 to 0.436. The STST should therefore be used with caution because of its moderate between-rater reliability and validity.

In recent years, the increasing number of patients with upper limb musculoskeletal disorders seeking timely, intensive, prolonged and task oriented hospital- and home- based physical rehabilitation, and the decreasing numbers of trained therapist to provide the needed care, have left a palpable gab. These have resulted in several preventable deformities with associated complications leading to social and economic burdens. Although the introduction of some robotic devices has addressed some of these concerns, the shortfalls from the use of these devices limit their effectiveness. The newly introduced hand rehabilitation board (Dominic’s Board) was prospectively evaluated in 82 patients with ULMDs of different etiologies to assess its therapeutic efficacy in rehabilitation of ULMDs. Additive, but complementary effect was observed when used along with conventional hospital-based therapy and at home, suggesting the effectiveness of this device in preventing or ameliorating the complications associated with ULMDs.