Wrestling Injuries in North Carolina High Schools

In brief: Using data on 1,091 North Carolina high school wrestlers during 49 team-seasons, the authors attempted to relate the number, type, and severity of wrestling injuries to factors such as mat surfaces, endurance exercises, weight- reducing methods, protective equipment, and coaching experience. Most of the 248 injuries were minor, causing little time loss, but 57 (23%) were so severe that athletes missed an entire season. Possible contributory factors were inappropriate endurance training shoes, infrequent headgear use during practice, less than optimum wrestler-to-coach ratios, and potentially dangerous weight-reduction methods.     

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The sternoclavicular (SC) joint can incur significant injuries. These injuries are often subtle, and, without a high index of suspicion, hard to diagnose. However, specific diagnostic methods can help clarify the extent of injury, and relatively straightforward treatment protocols can help resolve all but the most severe injuries. Two areas of concern are physeal injuries and posterior dislocations. In children and young adults, injuries of the SC joint must be considered physeal fractures until proven otherwise. Disastrous complications of posterior SC dislocations have been reported, but detecting vascular compromise or other serious sequelae will help minimize their occurrence.     

Radiofrequency-induced thermotherapy (RFiTT) in a porcine liver model and ex vivo great saphenous vein

Aims: To investigate the thermal spread achieved in porcine liver when using an optimised radiofrequency ablation protocol and correlate findings with the effects seen in ex vivo great saphenous vein (GSV), in order to justify clinical use with the new treatment protocol.

Material and methods: Porcine liver and GSV sections were treated with radiofrequency-induced thermotherapy (RFiTT) using the following settings: 20 W at 1?s/cm (linear endovenous energy density; LEED 20 J/cm), 18 W at 1?s/cm (LEED 18 J/cm), 18 W at 3?s/cm (LEED 54 J/cm), 6 W interrupted pull-back 6?s stationary every 0.5?cm (LEED 72 J/cm). Thermal spread in the liver was measured via digital imaging. GSV sections were sent to an independent laboratory for histological analysis. Previous work suggests a thermal spread of?>0.65?mm in liver correlates with transmural thermoablation of a GSV.

Results: Parameters giving a LEED of 72 J/cm produced the best results, with a clear transmural effect in the GSV and maximal thermal spread of 1.65?mm, without excessive thermal damage or carbonisation in the ablation tract.

Conclusions: Our porcine liver model correlated well with histological findings and was representative of the thermoablative effects observed in the GSV wall treated with RFiTT. Clinical investigations are now being carried out to investigate the efficacy of this protocol in the clinical setting.