The Effectiveness of Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections in Gluteal Tendinopathy: A Randomized, Double-Blind Controlled Trial Comparing a Single Platelet-Rich Plasma Injection With a Single Corticosteroid Injection.

Background: Gluteus medius/minimus tendinopathy is a common cause of lateral hip pain or greater trochanteric pain syndrome.

Hypothesis: There would be no difference in the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS) between a single platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection compared with a corticosteroid injection in the treatment of gluteal tendinopathy.

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

Sport Concussion Management Using Facebook: A Feasibility Study of an Innovative Adjunct "iCon".

Context:   Sport concussion is currently the focus of much international attention. Innovative methods to assist athletic trainers in facilitating management after this injury need to be investigated.

Objective:   To investigate the feasibility of using a Facebook concussion-management program termed iCon (interactive concussion management) to facilitate the safe return to play (RTP) of young persons after sport concussion.

Analysis of Platelet-Rich Plasma Extraction: Variations in Platelet and Blood Components Between 4 Common Commercial Kits.

Background: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been extensively used as a treatment in tissue healing in tendinopathy, muscle injury, and osteoarthritis. However, there is variation in methods of extraction, and this produces different types of PRP.

Purpose: To determine the composition of PRP obtained from 4 commercial separation kits, which would allow assessment of current classification systems used in cross-study comparisons.

Ethical considerations in using Facebook for health care support: a case study using concussion management.

Social networking sites (SNS) are now part of everyday life, and SNSs such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are among the most accessed Web sites on the Internet. Although SNSs are primarily used for staying in touch with friends and family, they are increasingly being used for health-related purposes for a variety of conditions, including concussion awareness. As health interventions begin to be more commonly provided through SNSs (particularly Facebook), ethical issues have been raised with regard to confidentiality, privacy, and trust; these issues need to be addressed.

Big hits on the small screen: an evaluation of concussion-related videos on YouTube.

Background: YouTube is one of the largest social networking websites, allowing users to upload and view video content that provides entertainment and conveys many messages, including those related to health conditions, such as concussion. However, little is known about the content of videos relating to concussion.

Objective: To identify and classify the content of concussion-related videos available on YouTube.

The understanding of the concept of 'rest' in the management of a sports concussion by physical therapy students: a descriptive study.

Objectives: To investigate physical therapy students' understanding of the concept of rest following a sport concussion and to ascertain if this understanding changes following a lecture based on current best practice concussion knowledge.

Design: Pre-post observational survey.

Setting: University classroom setting.

Concussion information online: evaluation of information quality, content and readability of concussion-related websites.

Background: The internet plays an important role in the dissemination of health information to the general public. Information on orthopaedic sports medicine websites has been shown to be of a varying standard, and to date there has been no evaluation of the overall quality of concussion-related websites.

Methods: A four-stage methodological sampling technique was used to identify concussion-related websites.

'What's happening?' A content analysis of concussion-related traffic on Twitter.

Background: Twitter is a rapidly growing social networking site (SNS) with approximately 124 million users worldwide. Twitter allows users to post brief messages ('tweets') online, on a range of everyday topics including those dealing with health and wellbeing. Currently, little is known about how tweets are used to convey information relating to specific injuries, such as concussion, that commonly occur in youth sports.

Training conditions influence walking kinematics and self-selected walking speed in patients with neurological impairments.

Gait training is a major focus of rehabilitation for many people with neurological disorders, yet systematic reviews have failed to identify the most effective form of gait training. The main objective of this study was to compare conditions for gait training for people with acquired brain injury (ABI). Seventeen people who had sustained an ABI and were unable to walk without assistance were recruited as a sample.

Changes in the timed finger-to-nose task performance following exercise of different intensities.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different levels of exercise intensity on the timed finger-to-nose (FTN) task, a measure of upper limb coordination included in the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT2).

Methods: A three-group crossover randomised design was used to investigate changes in FTN times at three levels of exercise intensity; no exercise/rest (NE), moderate intensity exercise (ME) and high-intensity exercise (HE). Heart rates and a rating of perceived exertion (Borg Scale) were recorded to verify the level of exercise intensity.

Natural history of concussion in sport: markers of severity and implications for management.

Background: Evidence-based clinical data are required for safe return to play after concussion in sport.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to describe the natural history of concussion in sport and identify clinical features associated with more severe concussive injury, using return-to-sport decisions as a surrogate measure of injury severity.

Study Design: Cohort study (prognosis); Level of evidence, 3.

People preferentially increase hip joint power generation to walk faster following traumatic brain injury.

Background: Reduced gait speed is common following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Several studies have found that people with TBI display increased lateral movement in their center of mass while walking. It has been hypothesized that reduced gait speed following TBI is a consequence of increased caution and postural instability, but reduced ankle power generation at push-off may also play a contributing role.

Normative values for three clinical measures of motor performance used in the neurological assessment of sports concussion.

Postural control and motor coordination are essential components of normal athletic activity. Tasks involving balance and coordination are used to determine neurological function in sports-related concussion. Determining normative values for these tasks is therefore essential to provide sports medicine professionals with a frame of reference with which to interpret clinical measures obtained from players suspected of sustaining a concussion.

Incidence of gait abnormalities after traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To identify the most common gait abnormalities presenting after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and quantify their incidence rate.

Design: Case series.

Setting: Biomechanics laboratory.

Injury rates and risk factors in competitive professional boxing.

Objective: To determine injury rates and risk factors for injury in a cohort of professional boxers.

Design: Retrospective cohort design reporting on data collected for a fight statistics database maintained by the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Board of Victoria, Australia. Data were extracted for the years January 1997 through June 2005.

Neurologic injuries in boxing and other combat sports.

Many sports have neurologic injury from incidental head contact; however, combat sports allow head contact, and a potential exists for acute and chronic neurologic injuries. Although each combat sport differs in which regions of the body can be used for contact, they are similar in competitor exposure time. Their acute injury rates are similar; thus their injuries can appropriately be considered together.

Neurologic injuries in boxing and other combat sports.

Many sports have neurologic injury from incidental head contact; however, combat sports allow head contact, and a potential exists for acute and chronic neurologic injuries. Although each combat sport differs in which regions of the body can be used for contact, they are similar in competitor exposure time. Their acute injury rates are similar; thus their injuries can appropriately be considered together.

Acute clinical symptoms of concussion: assessing prognostic significance.

The acute symptoms of concussion provide the basis for assessment, classification, and ultimately, management of this common problem in sport. The only concussive symptoms that have been scientifically validated are loss of consciousness, headache, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, attentional deficit, and memory loss. Although many symptoms have been anecdotally attributed to concussive injury, their clinical significance is unknown.