Hoops News

T hink philosophically for a moment: As sports medicine clinicians, what is our most important function? Some might say diagnosing illnesses. That's a hard one to argue, especially when it comes to cardiac conditions and the risk of sudden death. Others might focus on rehabilitation and training—no doubt major components of what we do. Many of us focus on injury prevention: keeping athletes on the field of play and trying to reduce the risks associated with joint injury such as posttraumatic osteoarthritis. Ligament trauma frequently alters joint kinematics and kinetics, injures articular cartilage, and often inhibits protective muscle function. Over the long term, these alterations in function can increase the risk of posttraumatic osteoarthritis at the shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, and ankle. So clearly, preventing joint injuries and providing the most appropriate care when they do occur are critical components of the total care of the athlete. In that light, honest, accurate assessments of our prevention and treatment efforts can help determine the most appropriate direction of future prevention programs and treatment protocols. Periodically, we are fortunate to get a report card on how well we are doing with properly designed studies. The systematic review and meta-analysis by Taylor et al 10 is the most current evaluation of injury prevention efforts in basketball. Basketball originated as a noncontact, finesse sport. However, it has evolved into a very physical contest emphasizing total body strength and leverage at the collegiate and professional ranks. Players often use their bodies to jostle for an advantageous position both on offense and defense. The girth and bulk of today's elite players hints at the demands of today's game. Contact mechanisms now account for the majority (69.2%) of acute injuries in basketball. 3 It is a vertical and horizontal sport that combines jumping and rapid changes in direction. The axial rotation and lateral movement of the lower extremity is constant, along with the rapid momentum shifts. The vertical and horizontal movements of the game present many lower extremity opportunities for injury as torques and sheer forces are applied to the ankle, knee, and hip. Those physical features and basketball's global popularity and participation generate many opportunities to study basketball injury epidemiology. A European prospective cohort study of 164 players (mean age, 23.7 ± 7.0 years), both male and female, demonstrated an overall injury incidence of 9.8 (range, 8.5-11.1) per 1000 hours. 3 The women's game has evolved …