Safer Return to Play After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Evaluation of a Return-to-Play Checklist.

Background: Questions remain regarding the traditional protocols used in rehabilitation and clearance for return to sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

Purpose/hypothesis: To investigate the impact on injury rates after return to sports by developing and validating a Safer Return to Play Following ACL Reconstruction Checklist consisting of subjective and objective functional tests that can be quickly and easily implemented into a sports medicine practice. It was hypothesized that patients who successfully passed the checklist before returning to sports would experience lower rates of ipsilateral and contralateral knee injuries at a 2-year follow-up as compared with patients who returned to play before completing the checklist.

Acute Opioid Withdrawal Mimicking Postoperative Joint Infection Following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) Reconstruction: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND A short course of opioid narcotics is often prescribed for postoperative anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction pain management. Unfortunately, there is a well-documented incidence of opioid withdrawal syndrome (OWS) following short-term use of these medications. OWS can present with symptoms such as influenza-like illness.

Osteochondral Autograft Transplantation for Proximal Lunate Articular Defects.

Background:  No consensus treatment option for focal osteochondral defects of the proximal lunate exist in the literature. Surgical management has thus far been limited to salvage procedures such as proximal row carpectomy and partial arthrodesis.

Case Description:  We report our experience using the osteochondral autograft transplantation surgery (OATS) procedure in two young, active patients with focal osteochondral defects of the proximal lunate.

Triceps Tendon Ruptures Requiring Surgical Repair in National Football League Players.

Background: Complete triceps tendon ruptures are relatively rare in the general population but slightly more prevalent in professional football. One prior study found 11 complete ruptures over a 6-season period.

Hypothesis: Triceps ruptures occur more commonly in football linemen due to forced elbow flexion during an eccentric contraction and may occur more commonly with the increasing size and speed of professional players.

The envelope of motion of the cervical spine and its influence on the maximum torque generating capability of the neck muscles.

The posture of the head and neck is critical for predicting and assessing the risk of injury during high accelerations, such as those arising during motor accidents or in collision sports. Current knowledge suggests that the head's range-of-motion (ROM) and the torque-generating capability of neck muscles are both dependent and affected by head posture. A deeper understanding of the relationship between head posture, ROM and maximum torque-generating capability of neck muscles may help assess the risk of injury and develop means to reduce such risks.

Results of ACL reconstruction with tibial Retroscrew fixation: Comparison of clinical outcomes and tibial tunnel widening.

Unlabelled: ACL reconstruction with the RetroScrew™ shows superior clinical outcomes compared to historical Achilles allograft studies with antegrade screws. Addition of antegrade screw augmentation to retrograde fixation causes an increase in tibial tunnel widening.

Introduction: In traditional antegrade screw fixation of Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) soft tissue allografts, the screw is secured in the opposite direction of graft tension, potentially altering the appropriate tension on the graft.

Short-/intermediate-term outcomes after medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction in the treatment of chronic lateral patellofemoral instability.

Purpose: Disruption of the medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) is now considered the essential lesion of recurrent lateral patellar dislocation in patients with normal lower extremity alignment. Reconstruction of the MPFL is a technique gaining significant success in the treatment of patients with this disabling condition.

Hypothesis: Reconstruction of the MPFL in patients with chronic patellar instability and normal lower extremity alignment will improve knee function and symptoms, with a high percentage of patients achieving good to excellent results at early follow-up.

A composite athletic tape with hyperelastic material properties improves and maintains ankle support during exercise.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory testing using a single-group, prospective, repeated-measures design.

Objectives: To compare the material properties of a hyperelastic athletic tape to a conventional tape and to compare the passive ankle support of these tapes before and after exercise.

Background: The near-linear material properties of conventional athletic tape may interfere with ankle motion, resulting in reduced athletic performance.

Mean subaxial space available for the cord index as a novel method of measuring cervical spine geometry to predict the chronic stinger syndrome in American football players.

Object: The chronic stinger syndrome is a distinct entity from acute stingers and has been shown to have its own pathophysiology that, unlike acute stingers, may reflect long-standing geometrical changes of the subaxial spinal canal and chronic irritation/degeneration of the exiting nerve root complex. There is no method available, however, to accurately predict these symptoms in athletes. The mean subaxial cervical space available for the cord (MSCSAC) is a novel alternative to the Torg ratio for predicting neurological symptoms caused by cervical spondylosis in elite athletes.

Cervical spine injuries in American football.

American football is a high-energy contact sport that places players at risk for cervical spine injuries with potential neurological deficits. Advances in tackling and blocking techniques, rules of the game and medical care of the athlete have been made throughout the past few decades to minimize the risk of cervical injury and improve the management of injuries that do occur. Nonetheless, cervical spine injuries remain a serious concern in the game of American football.

Coracoid process fracture with acromioclavicular joint separation in an American football player: a case report and literature review.

Coracoid process fractures are rare and few cases have been reported in the orthopedic literature. In this article, we report the case of an American football player with a coracoid process fracture in the setting of acromioclavicular separation and describe incidence, mechanism of injury, and treatment. Although rare, coracoid process fracture should be considered in the differential diagnosis for shoulder pain.