Update on sports imaging

Sports Imaging has dramatically increased in the past decade with increasing number of adolescents, young and middle-aged adults participating in non-competitive/hobby sports. Therefore, sports injuries are no longer confined to elite athletes. Furthermore, newer forms of sports such as mountain climbing, pickle ball and curling etc. are gaining popularity. Majority of the injuries in sports medicine are from musculoskeletal trauma. Therefore, it is imperative that the musculoskeletal radiologist becomes familiar with various sports related injury patterns as these are commonly encountered in daily practice. This update aims to briefly encapsulate the major aspects of sports imaging. It includes the imaging manifestations of various types of musculoskeletal injuries on different modalities (commonly US and MRI) and briefly mentions the various image guided interventions, performed both on the sports field and in the hospital setting.     

Out of the boxes,out of the silos: The need of interdisciplinary collaboration to reduce poor-quality medical products in the supply chain

In this paper, we argue that understanding and addressing the problem of poor-quality medical products requires a more interdisciplinary approach than has been evident to date. While prospective studies based on rigorous standardized methodologies are the gold standard for measuring the prevalence of poor-quality medical products and understanding their distribution nationally and internationally, they should be complemented by social science research to unpack the complex set of social, economic, and governance factors that underlie these patterns. In the following sections, we discuss specific examples of prospective quality surveys and of social science studies, highlighting the value of cross-sector partnerships in driving high-quality, policy-relevant research in this area.     

Injuries in England and Wales elite men’s domestic cricket: A nine season review from 2010 to 2018

ObjectivesThis study primarily aimed to explore injury incidence rates in the three main domestic competition formats in England and Wales (First-Class, One-Day and Twenty20 [T20]). For the first time, the study also describes the epidemiology of elite men’s domestic cricket injuries across nine seasons (2010–2018 inclusive).DesignProspective cohort analysis.MethodsInjury incidence and prevalence from all injuries calculated according to the updated international consensus statement on injury surveillance in cricket, with statistical process control charts (SPC) used to detect trends in the data.ResultsThe average match injury incidence was 102 injuries/1000 days of play, with highest incidence in One-Day (254 injuries/1000 days of play), followed by T20 (136 injuries/1000 days of play) and First-Class Cricket (68 injuries/1000 days of play). Most match injuries were sustained during bowling (41.6 injuries/1000 days of play), followed by fielding (26.8 injuries/1000 days of play) and batting (22.3 injuries/1000 days of play). The thigh was the body area most commonly injured (7.4 injuries/100 players per season), with lumbar spine injuries the most prevalent (1.3% of players unavailable on any given day during the season). On average, 7.5% of players were unavailable on any given day during the domestic season when all injuries were considered (match and training). The SPC charts showed relatively consistent match injury incidence for all competitions, reproduced across all nine seasons.ConclusionThese findings provide a robust empirical base for the extent of the injury problem in domestic cricket played in England and Wales, with similar injury profiles across the three formats.     

Cell integrity indicators assessed by bioelectrical impedance: A systematic review of studies involving athletes

IntroductionBioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) has been used to evaluate cellular health and integrity through bioelectrical indicators. In the sporting context, monitoring these indicators can be useful to assess the quality and vitality of cells and body tissues.ObjectiveThe aim of this systematic review was to investigate indicators of cellular health and integrity evaluated by BIA in athletes.MethodsSearches were performed in December 2017 in the Lilacs, Medline, PubMed, Science Direct, Scielo, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science databases, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.ResultsThe searches retrieved 31 articles (30 involving professional athletes and one involving university athletes). In longitudinal studies (n = 15), the bioelectrical parameters directly associated with cellular health and integrity were extracellular water (ECW), phase angle (PA), BIA vector analysis (BIVA), crude reactance data (Xc), resistance (R), and ECW/BCM ratio. Regarding the findings of cross-sectional studies (n = 16), the investigated parameters (ECW, PA, BIVA, Z, BCM, and ECW/BCM) were directly associated with gender, age, sports performance level, modality, and game position.ConclusionsIn the included studies, the cellular health and integrity indicators were: Z, Xc, R, total water, intracellular water, ECW, PA, BIVA, BCM, and ECW/BCM.     

Time for sport and health to be formally linked in a positive way

Preventing sports injury has rarely been cited as an appropriate action to respond to the obesity epidemic, and in fact a recent letter has suggested that those playing sport are as responsible for their predicament as those who are obese. This opinion piece argues that it is time for better prevention and management of sports injury to be seen as part of the complex solution to preventing obesity, rather than being a self-inflicted problem that governments should continue to ignore.