Defending Puts the Anterior Cruciate Ligament at Risk During Soccer: A Gender-Based Analysis.

Background: Soccer athletes are at risk for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. To date, there are limited studies on the mechanisms of ACL injuries in soccer athletes and no video-based analysis or sex-based comparison of these mechanisms.

Hypothesis: There is no difference in ACL injury mechanisms among soccer athletes by sex.

Viscosupplementation during rehabilitation.

Context: Viscosupplementation (VS) and physical therapy are both used to treat pain associated with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Evidence Acquisition: PubMed and EMBASE searches were performed to July 2013. Search terms included hyaluronic acid OR hylan, physical therapy OR exercise, AND osteoarthritis.

Return to competitive football after major knee surgery: more questions than answers?

Despite significant advances in the diagnostics and treatment of knee injuries over the last decade, several challenges related to the subject "return to sport" remain largely unknown. For example, how should "return to sport" be defined precisely? What is the optimal timing and progression to enable a return to sport? Which criteria should be used during this process? What type of training is indicated? Which measurements can support the decision-making process? How do we optimally prepare athletes for competition without risking re-injury? This paper critically addresses these questions, and proposes a return to play model to prepare football players to compete after major knee surgery (anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, cartilage repair). The goal is to re-integrate the player gradually into the game, taking into account his individual characteristics.

The prevalence of radiographic hip abnormalities in elite soccer players.

Background: Hip injuries, both intra- and extra-articular, are becoming a more commonly recognized, diagnosed, and treated injury in athletes of all competitive levels. Our goal is to establish a previously undefined value in this athletic population--the prevalence of radiographic hip abnormalities in elite soccer athletes.

Purpose: To provide a foundation for the future body of literature regarding hip pathologic abnormalities and "at-risk" hips in athletes of all ages and levels of participation.

Rehabilitation after Articular Cartilage Repair of the Knee in the Football (Soccer) Player.

Background: Participation in football can put both male and female players at an increased risk for knee osteoarthritis. There is a higher prevalence of focal chondral defects in the knee of athletes compared to nonathletes. The management of chondral defects in the football player is complex and multifactorial.

Gender influences: the role of leg dominance in ACL injury among soccer players.

Objective: This study intends to look at the role of leg dominance in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk among soccer (football) athletes. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that soccer players rupture the ACL of their preferred support leg more frequently than the ACL in their preferred kicking leg, particularly in non-contact injuries, despite differences in gender.

Design: Retrospective observational study.

Groin injuries in sports medicine.

Context: An in-season groin injury may be debilitating for the athlete. Proper diagnosis and identification of the pathology are paramount in providing appropriate intervention. Furthermore, an adductor strain that is treated improperly can become chronic and career threatening.

Anterior cruciate ligament injuries: etiology and prevention.

The relatively high risk of noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture among female athletes has been a major impetus for investigation into the etiology of this injury. A number of risk factors have been identified, both internal and external to the athlete, including neuromuscular, anatomical, hormonal, shoe-surface interaction, and environmental, such as weather. The anatomic and neuromuscular risk factors, often gender related, are the focus of most ACL injury prevention programs.

Prevention of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injuries in soccer players. Part 2: a review of prevention programs aimed to modify risk factors and to reduce injury rates.

Soccer is the most commonly played sport in the world, with an estimated 265 million active soccer players participating in the game as on 2006. Inherent to this sport is the higher risk of injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) relative to other sports. ACL injury causes a significant loss of time from competition in soccer, which has served as the strong impetus to conduct research that focuses to determine the risk factors for injury, and more importantly, to identify and teach techniques to reduce this injury in the sport.

Prevention of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injuries in soccer players. Part 1: Mechanisms of injury and underlying risk factors.

Soccer is the most commonly played sport in the world, with an estimated 265 million active soccer players by 2006. Inherent to this sport is the higher risk of injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) relative to other sports. ACL injury causes the most time lost from competition in soccer which has influenced a strong research focus to determine the risk factors for injury.

A randomized controlled trial to prevent noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injury in female collegiate soccer players.

Background: Neuromuscular and proprioceptive training programs can decrease noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injuries; however, they may be difficult to implement within an entire team or the community at large.

Hypothesis: A simple on-field alternative warm-up program can reduce noncontact ACL injuries.

Study Design: Randomized controlled trial (clustered); Level of evidence, 1.

Prevention of anterior cruciate ligament injury in the female athlete.

The relationships of gender, age and training to the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury are pivotal to developing a comprehensive neuromuscular and proprioceptive training programme to decrease ACL injuries in female athletes. A prophylactic neuromuscular and proprioceptive training programme may have direct benefit in decreasing the number of ACL injuries in female athletes. This research foundation endorses further epidemiological and biomechanical studies to determine the exact mechanism of ACL injury and the most effective intervention for decreasing ACL injuries in this high-risk population.

Anterior cruciate ligament tear prevention in the female athlete.

This paper examines the effectiveness of implementing neuromuscular and proprioceptive training programs in female athletes and their ability to decrease the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The relationship of sex, age, and training on the incidence of ACL injury is pivotal in developing a comprehensive neuromuscular and proprioceptive training program to decrease ACL injuries occurring in female athletes. Based on the 2-year results, ACL incidence has remained consistently lower in the intervention group versus the control group.

Effectiveness of a neuromuscular and proprioceptive training program in preventing anterior cruciate ligament injuries in female athletes: 2-year follow-up.

Background: Among female athletes it has not been established whether a neuromuscular and proprioceptive sports-specific training program will consistently reduce the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

Purpose: To determine whether a neuromuscular and proprioceptive performance program was effective in decreasing the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament injury within a select population of competitive female youth soccer players.

Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.