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Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) Jul 2023Rugby Union is a collision team sport played globally. Despite this, significant concerns have been raised regarding the sport's safety, particularly in youth players.... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Rugby Union is a collision team sport played globally. Despite this, significant concerns have been raised regarding the sport's safety, particularly in youth players. Given this, a review of injury rates, risk factors and prevention strategies is required across different youth age groups as well as in males and females.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this systematic review (SR) and meta-analysis was to investigate injury and concussion rates, risk factors and primary prevention strategies in youth rugby.
METHODS
To be included, studies were required to report either rates, risk factors or prevention strategies in youth rugby and to have a randomised controlled trial, quasi-experimental, cohort, case control, or ecological study design. Exclusion criteria included non-peer-reviewed grey literature, conference abstracts, case studies, previous systematic reviews and studies not written in English. Nine databases were searched. The full search strategy and list of sources are available and pre-registered on PROSPERO (Ref: CRD42020208343). Each study was assessed for risk of bias using the Downs and Black quality assessment tool. Meta-analyses were conducted using a DerSimonian Laird random effect model for each age group and sex.
RESULTS
Sixty-nine studies were included in this SR. The match injury rates (using a 24-h time-loss definition) were 40.2/1000 match hours (95% CI 13.9-66.5) in males and 69.0/1000 match hours (95% CI 46.8-91.2) in females. Concussion rates were 6.2/1000 player-hours (95% CI 5.0-7.4) for males and 33.9/1000 player-hours (95% CI: 24.1-43.7) for females. The most common injury site was lower extremity (males) and the head/neck (females). The most common injury type was ligament sprain (males) and concussion (females). The tackle was the most common event associated with injury in matches (55% male, 71% females). Median time loss was 21 days for males and 17 days for females. Twenty-three risk factors were reported. The risk factors with the strongest evidence were higher levels of play and increasing age. Primary injury prevention strategies were the focus of only eight studies and included law changes (n = 2), equipment (n = 4), education (n = 1) and training (n = 1). The prevention strategy with the most promising evidence was neuromuscular training. The primary limitations included a broad range of injury definitions (n = 9) and rate denominators (n = 11) used, as well as a limited number of studies which could be included in the meta-analysis for females (n = 2).
CONCLUSION
A focus on high-quality risk factor and primary prevention evaluation should be considered in future studies. Targeting primary prevention and stakeholder education remain key strategies in the prevention, recognition and management of injuries and concussions in youth rugby.
Topics: Female; Humans; Male; Adolescent; Athletic Injuries; Rugby; Football; Brain Concussion; Risk Factors; Incidence; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
PubMed: 37191819
DOI: 10.1007/s40279-023-01826-z -
Therapeutics and Clinical Risk... 2022Paraovarian cysts (POCs) develop within the broad ligament of the uterus. POCs are considered to be giant when the threshold of 150 mm is exceeded. Clinical signs and... (Review)
Review
Paraovarian cysts (POCs) develop within the broad ligament of the uterus. POCs are considered to be giant when the threshold of 150 mm is exceeded. Clinical signs and symptoms occur as a consequence of the pressure effect on adjacent organs or due to complications. Abdominal ultrasonography, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging are useful imaging tools, but most often the exact origin of such voluminous cysts is revealed only by surgical exploration. The review aims to appraise and update the diagnostic, the histological aspects and the treatment of the giant POCs in rare cases. We carried out a systematic search in Medline-PubMed, Google Scholar and ResearchGate electronic databases. Twenty-seven papers fulfilling the selection criteria were included in the review. The data extracted included information about first author, year of publication, country, patient age, size and side of the POCs, symptoms, tumoral markers, imaging methods, preoperative diagnosis, surgical management and histopathological findings. Although not very numerous, all the studies highlighted the low incidence of giant POCs, the impossibility of establishing the origin of the cystic mass by clinical and imaging methods even with advanced technical tools and the low risk of torsion (11.1%). Despite the recognized benign nature of POCs, we found an unexpected high percent (25.9%) of borderline giant POCs. Surgical excision is the only treatment option. Ovarian-sparing surgery was performed in 85.1% of the cases, and minimally invasive techniques were applied in only 42.9% of the patients, which demonstrates the need of a high-level laparoscopic expertise. Knowledge of this pathology, its recognition as a possible etiology of an abdominopelvic cyst, and a higher awareness of the possibility of a borderline histology in giant POCs are required for the proper management of these particular cases.
PubMed: 35516165
DOI: 10.2147/TCRM.S361476 -
Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics Oct 2019Isolated distal fibular fractures resulting from supination external rotation (SER) injuries without evidence of obvious talar shift on standard radiographs present a...
BACKGROUND
Isolated distal fibular fractures resulting from supination external rotation (SER) injuries without evidence of obvious talar shift on standard radiographs present a diagnostic dilemma for clinicians. The status of the deep deltoid ligament, the main stabilizer of the ankle joint, is assessed by an increase in medial clear space (MCS) on radiographs. Therefore, these injuries can be either stable or unstable. In recent years, considerable clinical and research efforts have been made to determine ankle stability following SER fracture. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate and compare the role of different stress radiograph modalities in assessing stability of the ankle with SER fractures with no obvious talar subluxation on standard radiographs.
METHODS
The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, Ovid, Cochrane Central, CINAHL, and Google Scholar were searched from January 2000 to January 2018 to identify literature relating to radiologic assessment of stability of SER ankle fractures.
RESULTS
Our literature search revealed 10 peer-reviewed articles that fulfilled inclusion criteria. This yielded a total of 698 patients. The systematic review found 3 broad categories of radiographic investigations in the assessment of ankle joint stability: external rotation (ER) stress radiographs, gravity stress views (GSV), and weightbearing (WB) radiographs. Proponents of WB radiographs have demonstrated how axial load can normalize ankle joint alignment in cases of proven instability. There was a consistently high grade of evidence for using a medial clear space (MCS) value of more than 4 to 5 mm to indicate an unstable ankle following SER fracture.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the results of this systematic review support an MCS value of less than 4 to 5 mm as a good indicator of stability, regardless of choice of stress imaging modality. These patients can be allowed early weightbearing with expected good functional outcomes. Recent published literature favors WB stress radiographs as a reliable and safe technique for assessing stability in SER ankle fractures. However, it should be kept in mind that this is based on studies with relatively low grades of evidence.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Level II, systematic review of variable quality studies.
PubMed: 35097353
DOI: 10.1177/2473011419890861