Sports Medicine News

The number of ACL tears among adolescents and school-aged children has increased during the past 20 years, according to results recently presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition, with peak rates of tears seen in high school students.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Among high school athletes, overall rates of anterior cruciate ligament tears were substantially higher in girls than in boys, especially those who played basketball, soccer and lacrosse, according to recently presented data.

WASHINGTON D.C. — Despite recommendations against pediatric creatine use by the AAP and American College of Sports Medicine, two-thirds of sales attendants at health food and vitamin supplement stores endorsed creatine for teenage customers, according to data presented at the 2015 AAP National Conference and Exhibition.

WASHINGTON — Enforcement of proper tackling rules and availability of athletic trainers on the sidelines are recommended to reduce injuries in youth football, according to new a policy statement released by the AAP’s Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness.

WASHINGTON — A state interscholastic athletic association rule change limiting the amount of full contact practice time for high school football players was found to reduce instances of sport related concussions, according to data presented at the 2015 AAP National Conference and Exhibition.

WASHINGTON — Lack of knowledge regarding post-head injury return-to-play standards among parents and coaches puts child athletes at risk for further injury, according to data presented at the 2015 AAP National Conference and Exhibition.

CHICAGO — The pooled rate of return to play following lumbar microdiscectomy for herniated disc nucleus was 83.5%, according to results presented at the North American Spine Society Annual Meeting, and the overall return to play rate for elite athletes with a herniated disc after this procedure was 84.5%.

Football is one of the most popular sports played by young athletes in the United States. It also leads all other sports in the number of yearly injuries. In 2007, more than 920,000 athletes under 18 years of age were treated in the emergency room, doctor’s office and/or clinics for football-related injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Some injuries are unavoidable. However, some can be prevented or at least minimized with certain precautions.

Novel cardiovascular disease risk factors improved in adolescents after 2 weeks of high-intensity interval training, according to data published in the American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology.

In a pre- and post-season ultrasound evaluation of high school pitchers’ elbows, adaptive changes occurred to multiple structures about the elbow from stresses placed on the elbow during one season of pitching, based on results of a recently published study.