International Journal of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation

Research Article of International Journal of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Injury incidence and athlete availability through a single-season in an elite rugby union team in Japan Hayato Yamamoto1, Masanori Takemura2, Sora Asai3, Yoshihiro Kojima3, Kentaro Okawa3, Kazuma Fukuhara3, Misato Tachibana4, Junzo Tsujita5, Tatsuya Hojo6 1University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences, 2Ichihashi clinic, 3NTTdocomo RedHurricanes Osaka, 4Osaka Institute of Technology, 5Institute of Health and Sports Medicine Science, 6Doshisha University Context: No studies report injury incidence for an elite rugby union team in Japan during the entire season. Also, no studies examine how athlete availability is affected because of injuries. Objective: This investigation reported the injury incidence and athlete availability of the elite rugby union team in Japan and identified the injury characteristics. Design: Descriptive Epidemiology Study. Setting: Elite rugby union team in Japan. Patients or Other Participants: Fifty-seven players from one elite rugby union team participated in this study. The team participated in Japan’s first elite rugby union league division. These consisted of 41 Japanese players, 8 South African players, 5 Tongan players, 2 New Zealand players, and 1 Australian player. Data Collection and Analysis: Injuries were recorded prospectively over 1 season. Athlete-exposure (AE), athlete-hour (AH), injury burden, and availability was analyzed. Results: As a result of this study, 72 time-loss injuries were identified throughout the single-season. Injury incidence in Japan’s elite rugby union team is indicated as high in the field training and low during the official match compared to foreign leagues. Type of injury, muscle strain injuries in the lower leg and thigh, and concussion occurred most frequently. Athlete availability during the in-season phase was high throughout but tended to decline toward the latter half of the season. Conclusions: This investigation revealed the characteristics and incidence of injury and athlete availability of Japan’s elite rugby union team. These data ...

Research Article of International Journal of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Mechanism for shoulder pain and injury in elite badminton players Xiao Zhou1, Kazuhiro Imai1, Zhuo Chen1, Xiao-Xuan Liu1, and Eiji Watanabe2 1Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan; 2Institute of Sport, Senshu University, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan Purpose: to detect the mechanisms for shoulder pain and injury during forehand overhead stroke using the questionnaire and 2D video analysis. Methods and Materials: Participants were 48 university badminton players (aged 18-22) with national tournament level who had no current shoulder injuries. A questionnaire investigation and a forehand overhead clear test were performed. The angle of arm slot at the moment of hit was calculated from 2D videos analysis using Image J software. Data were compared between badminton players with shoulder problems and those without. Results: There were 6 badminton players reported a history of shoulder injury that all of them were offensive players. 11 badminton players (8 offensive players and 3 defensive players) reported present shoulder pain that offensive players showed 7.33 times more likely to sustain present shoulder pain than defensive players (OR = 7.33, 95%CI: 1.55-34.70, p = 0.007; Fisher’s Exact test: p = 0.012). Moreover, offensive players with present shoulder pain had significantly greater score of VAS (visual analog scale) than defensive players (74.0 mm ± 14.2 mm vs 44.6 mm ± 24.4 mm, p = 0.04). Significant differences of arm slot angle were found among badminton players with shoulder pain free, history of shoulder injury and present shoulder pain (35.74o ± 4.85o vs 42.90o ± 11.89 o vs 37.81o ± 6.40o, F = 3.27, p = 0.047). Conclusion: Offensive badminton players are more likely to suffer from shoulder injury and strong intensity of shoulder pain. Greater arm slot ...

Case report of International Journal of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinical application of monitoring indicators of female dancer health, including application of artificial intelligence in modeling female hormone networks Nicola Keay1, Martin Lanfear 2, Gavin Francis3 1Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Durham University, United Kingdom; 2Head of Performance Medicine, Scottish Ballet; 3 Science4Performance, London, United Kingdom Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of monitoring professional female dancer health with a variety of subjective and objective monitoring methods, including application of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to modelling menstrual cycle hormones and delivering swift personalised clinical advice. Methods: Female dancers from a ballet company completed a published online dance-specific health questionnaire. Over the study period, dancers recorded wellbeing and training metrics, with menstrual cycle tracking and blood tests. For menstrual cycle hormones AI-based techniques modelled hormone variation over a cycle, based on capillary blood samples taken at two time points. At regular, virtual, clinical interviews with each dancer, findings were discussed, and personalised advice given. Results: 14 female dancers (mean age 25.5 years, SD 3.7) participated in the study. 10 dancers recorded positive scores on the dance health questionnaire, suggesting a low risk of relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). 2 dancers were taking hormonal contraception. Apart from 1 dancer, those not on hormonal contraception reported current eumenorrhoeic status. The initiative of monitoring menstrual cycles and application of AI to model menstrual cycle hormones found that subclinical hormone disruption was occurring in 6 of the 10 dancers reporting regular cycles. 4 of the 6 dancers who received personalised advice, showed improved menstrual hormone function, including one dancer who had a planned pregnancy. Conclusions: Multimodal monitoring facilitated delivery of prompt personalised clinical medical feedback specific for dance. This strategy enabled the early identification and swift management of ...

Case report of International Journal of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Variations in knee range of motion during repeat knee extension with an amputated lower leg at different contraction rhythms over 8 consecutive days in a patient with severe diabetic neuropathy: A clinical study 1,2*Takuya Osada, 1Masahiro Ishiyama, 1Ryuichi Ueno 1Rehabilitation Center, Tokyo Medical University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan 2Cardiac Rehabilitation Center, Tokyo Medical University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan Background: This clinical study sought to understand the knee range of motion (KROM) in an amputated stump during repeat voluntary knee extension with or without a 0.5 kg weight in the acute/early phase after amputation can vary between different target knee extension rhythm frequency (KER) levels in the amputated lower leg of a patient with severe diabetic sensory disorder and leg ischemia. Case Presentation: A 51-year-old male patient with severe diabetic neuropathy had a right lower leg amputation due to necrosis and ulcer lesion following a burn injury to the first toes and severe ischemic peripheral vascular disease. In a sitting position with the base of the foot of the non-amputated left leg on the ground, he performed repeat knee extension of the resected stump (knee active extension and passive flexion without a target KROM) for 1 min with both self-controlled free KER and different target KERs (30, 40, 50, 60, and 80 contractions per minute [cpm] using a metronome), with or without a 0.5 kg weight placed on the resected stump over 8 consecutive days. The KROM was measured using a goniometer placed between the resected stump and the thigh muscle with a continuous data acquisition system. The mean values achieved for KER, KROM, and angle rate during a 1 min session was determined during each daily session, and consecutively average values over sessions on 8 consecutive days was also evaluated. The achieved ...