JOURNAL WATCH

Efficacy of injury prevention-related coach education within netball and soccer. Gianotti S, Hume PA, Tunstall H. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 2010;13(1):32-35

In 2004, Netball New Zealand and New Zealand Football

adapted a generic 10-point action plan for sports injury prevention, SportSmart, to create NetballSmart and SoccerSmart, as part of their coach education programmes. A small-size descriptive study was conducted in both sports, to assess the efficacy of integrating sports injury prevention into coach education. NetballSmart was evaluated at the end of 2005, via a telephone survey of 217 coaches (53% response rate) who had attended a NetballSmart course earlier in the year. SoccerSmart was evaluated at the start of 2007, via an internet questionnaire completed by 71 coaches (20% response rate) who had attended a SoccerSmart course in 2006. The evaluations focused on the quality and use of the course resource material, as well as assessing the extent to which coaches had incorporated injury prevention behaviours into player practices. After attending a NetballSmart course, 89% of coaches changed the way they coached, with 95% reporting using knowledge from the course and passing it on to players. Ninety-six percent of football/soccer coaches also changed the way they coached, with most change relating to warm-up/cool-down and stretch (65%), technique (63%), fitness (60%) and nutrition/hydration (58%) practices.

sportEX comment Coaches changing their methods! Although this was a descriptive study with a small

sample size, the integration of injury prevention content within coach education courses seems to help reduce risk of injury and that has to benefit both the players and the sport. When are we going to start these programmes in all sports?

sportEX comment

Concussion is a common injury in contact sports and many governing bodies have protocols in place regulating return to

Treatment of an individual with piriformis syndrome focusing on hip muscle strengthening and movement reeducation: a case report. Tonley JC, Yun SM et al. J Orthopaedical Sports

Physical Therapy 2010;40(2):1

The patient was a 30-year-old male with right buttock and posterior thigh pain for two years. Clinical findings upon examination included reproduction of symptoms with palpation and stretching of the piriformis. Movement analysis

The purpose of this randomised clinical trial was to compare the effectiveness of deep transverse friction massage with Mill’s manipulation as advocated by Cyriax versus phonophoresis with supervised exercise in managing lateral epicondylalgia. Sixty patients age 30-60, presenting with the teno-periosteal variety of lateral epicondylalgia with symptom duration greater than one month, were randomised into two groups. The control group received phonophoresis with

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during a single-limb step-down revealed excessive hip adduction and internal rotation, which reproduced his symptoms. Strength assessment revealed weakness of the right hip abductor and external rotator muscles. Treatment was limited to hip-strengthening exercises and movement re-education to correct the excessive hip adduction and internal rotation during functional tasks. Post treatment the patient reported 0/10 pain with all activities. The initial Lower Extremity Functional Scale questionnaire score of 65/80 improved to 80/80. Lower extremity kinematics for peak hip

adduction and internal rotation improved from 15.9 degrees and 12.8 degrees to 5.8 degrees and 5.9 degrees, respectively, during a step- down task.

sportEX comment Interventions for piriformis syndrome typically consist of stretching and/or soft tissue massage to the piriformis muscle. This case highlights an alternative view of the pathomechanics of piriformis syndrome which is that the problem is caused by overstretching as opposed to overshortening.

Cyriax physiotherapy versus phonophoresis with supervised exercise in subjects with lateral epicondylalgial. Nagrale AV, Herd CR et al. J Man Manip Ther. 2009;17(3):171-8

diclofenac gel over the area of the lateral epicondyle for 5 minutes combined with supervised exercise. The Cyriax group received 10 minutes of deep transverse friction massage followed by a single application of Mill’s manipulation. Both groups received treatment 3 times per week for 4 weeks. Outcome measures included pain via visual analog scale (VAS), pain-free grip strength, and functional status measured

with the Tennis Elbow Function Scale. Both groups improved significantly from the initiation of treatment, but a between-group comparison revealed significantly greater improvements regarding pain, pain-free grip, and functional status for the Cyriax group.

sportEX comment Hands on manual therapy beats drugs and an exercise sheet.

sportEX medicine 2010;43(Jan):4-6

The purpose of this study was to see if symptoms similar to those of concussion are prevalent in the general population and are reported to be associated with participation in physical activities. Sixty participants completed a standardised post-concussion symptom checklist prior to (pre) two levels of exercise intensity, moderate and high, each of 15 minutes duration followed by further checklists immediately following exercise (post-1) and again after 15 min of rest (post-2). A summed symptom score was calculated and the intensity x time interaction demonstrated a significant increase in symptom scores for the high intensity condition immediately following exercise. Although the moderate intensity showed a similar trend this was not significant.

Does exercise evoke neurological symptoms in healthy subjects? Alla S, Sullivan SJ et al. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 2010;13(1):24-26