In anther podcast recorded at the UKSEM conference held in London in November, Karim Khan (BJSM editor) talks to Lars Engebretsen, head of science and research for the International Olympic Comittee. They discuss the IOC’s work in trauma research, health promotion, and the BJSM-IOC special issues.

Hamstring injuries are the most prevalent muscle injuries in sport. Symptoms can be particularly prolonged, healing response poor, and the risk of re-injury high.

Carl Askling (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm) has been trialling a new way of categorising these injuries, thinking about them as high-speed running or stretching types. He explains to Karim Khan how these types can be diagnosed and the different treatment and monitoring they require. He also describes how to assess athletes post hamstring injury for return to sport.

See also:
High-speed running type or stretching-type of hamstring injuries makes a difference to treatment and prognosis
Hamstring strain injuries: are we heading in the right direction?
Hamstring issues in sports: still a major clinical and research challenge

February’s BJSM has a special focus on hamstring injuries, so there’s even more related content in the issue and on the website.

BJSM editor Karim Khan talks to Michael Turner about his time as chief medical adviser of the Lawn Tennis Association, including the medical scandals that have cropped up and the advances he’s seen in the game’s sports medicine.

Dr Turner is also chief medical adviser for the British Horseracing Authority, but more of that in a future podcast…

Compelling data that ‘bicycle paths’ are safer than riding in traffic are discussed in this podcast from our sister journal Injury Prevention. You might think that is a no-brainer. However the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has a ‘Guide for the development of bicycle facilities’ which cautions AGAINST building two-way paths along, but physically separated from, a parallel road. So for bike enthusiasts, and physical activity advocates, here are compelling data. The paper is open access too!

We’re well down the road to London 2012, but getting here has taken a herculean feat of organisation. In this BJSM podcast Richard Budgett, Chief Medical Officer British Olympic Association, explains how LOCOG has prepared to meet the medical needs of the olympians, their entourage, and their fans.

Coming together at the UKSEM conference in London, Professor Lars Engebretsen (Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center and IOC medical commission) talks to Dr Richard Frobell (Lund University, Malmo, Sweden) about his work on return to exercise after ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.

Dr Frobell describes the evidence already on this issue, and his recently published randomized trial on whether surgery or rehabilitation improves pain, symptoms, function in sports and recreation, and knee-related quality of life post-injury

See also:
A randomized trial of treatment for acute anterior cruciate ligament tears
The BJSM Warm up about this injury
Our 2010 interview with Richard Frobell and coauthors of the NEJM paper above

Diagnosing chronic exertional compartment syndrome relies on measuring intramuscular pressure, however Andrew Franklyn-Miller (Sports Surgery Clinic, Dublin; education director at BASEM) has shown the criteria for this are flawed (2.51). He talks to BJSM editor Karim Khan about what clinicians can do to get round this, his theory the condition is caused by biomechanical overload and his work looking at running re-education to alleviate symptoms (6.13).

He also gives us his views on barefoot running (10.44) and talks about his research on orthotics (17.57).

Finally, as UKsem’s director, Dr Franklyn-Miller gives us an update on the speakers and programme of the upcoming conference (21.04).

See also:
Foot Orthoses in the Prevention of Injury in Initial Military Training
The validity of the diagnostic criteria used in chronic exertional compartment syndrome: A systematic review
Chronic exertional compartment syndrome testing: a minimalist approach
Chronic exertional compartment syndrome
BJSM podcast: July’s BJSM and the UKsem Congress, with Andrew Franklyn-Miller
UKsem

Whether to opt for exercise treatment, new ‘biological therapies’ like platelet-rich plasma (PRP), or surgery is a clinical challenge. Sweden’s Professor Håkan Alfredson has unique experience in considering these options for patients with Achilles pain. He has 15 years experience as an international leader in sports and exercise medicine.

In this podcast, he tells BJSM’s editor Karim Khan how to manage both straightforward (0.37) and complicated (7.34) Achilles tendinopathy. He shares novel insights into the contribution of the aberrant plantaris tendon to chronic medial leg pain (12.40).

Prof Alfredson also provides a memorable clinical story to underscore the effectiveness of heavy loading eccentric training in one particularly stubborn patient (3.49). He argues against the use of PRP (17.37) and considers cortisone to be a short-term fix but long-term liability (15.24). The podcast concludes with discussion of both jumper’s knee (19.35) and lateral elbow tendinopathy (24.44).

Related paper:
Midportion Achilles tendinosis and the plantaris tendon

Related podcasts:
Robert Jan de Vos and Adam Weir on platelet rich plasma injections
Professor Jill Cook on managing tendinopathies in 2011

Zoals u weet heeft de VSG deze zomer een samenwerking gesloten met de British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Door de samenwerking heeft sportarts Adam Weir een podcast opgenomen met directeur Anja Bruinsma van de Vereniging voor Sportgeneeskunde. Anja Bruinsma gaat in op: Samenwerking VSG en BJSM, erkenning sportgeneeskunde, wetenschapsdomein, centraal stellen van de sporter en de toekomst van de sportgeneeskunde. Voor meer informatie zie ook www.sportzorg.nl, www.sportgeneeskunde.com.

VSG’s (the sports medicine society of the Netherlands) editor-in-chief Hans Tol and congress committee member Adam Weir highlight the October issue of BJSM and preview the VSG Annual Meeting on 1-2 December 2011.

The first paper highlighted is from Collard et al, who have calculated the economic costs of organised sports, leisure time physical activities and physical education classes of 10-12 year old Dutch children (1.26). The outcomes are intriguing!

A second paper of interest is from Malliaras and Cook, who contend that the longitudinal changes in antero-posterior patellar diameter support a continuum of pathological changes (2.02).

Two new theories on Achilles tendinopathy are presented in this issue. Firstly, Alfredson proposes there is an important role for the plantaris tendon (2.45). The second paper, presented by Andersson et al, highlights the role that substance P plays in tendinopathy (3.25). A must-read for those interested in tendon pathology and food for thought for all sport physicians!

Visiting the VSG Annual Meeting in Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands, is a decision you won’t regret. Hans Tol and Adam Weir explain in their warm-up why this is a must-visit for sports medicine enthusiasts. However, the conference language is Dutch, so make sure you master this in time! Dr Weir discusses the main topics of interest in the second half of the podcast (5.44).