Need a Boost? That Energy Drink May be More Harmful Than You Realize

Long-term consumption of energy drinks induces biochemical and ultrastructural alterations in the heart muscle.

Munteanu C, Rosioru C, Tarba C, and Lang C. Anatol J Cardiol. 2018. [Epub Ahead of Print].

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29724975 

Take Home Message: Long-term use of energy drinks can adversely affect heart muscle.

Energy drinks are often marketed to active individuals and contain high levels of caffeine, niacin, and taurine. Consumption of these products is related with adverse effects of the nervous, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal systems. However, little research has assessed the long-term effects of energy drink consumption. Therefore, Munteanu and colleagues completed a study on rats to investigate the effects of chronic energy drink consumption with and without alcohol on the physiology and structure of heart muscle.

Clinical assessment of acute lateral ankle sprain injuries (ROAST): 2019 consensus statement and recommendations of the International Ankle Consortium

Clinical assessment of acute lateral ankle sprain injuries (ROAST): 2019 consensus statement and recommendations of the International Ankle Consortium.

Delahunt E, Bleakley CM, Bossard DS, Caulfield BM, Docherty CL, Doherty C, Fourchet F, Fong DT, Hertel J, Hiller CE, Kaminski TW, McKeon PO, Refshauge KM, Remus A, Verhagen E, Vicenzino BT, Wikstrom EA, Gribble PA. Br J Sports Med. 2018 Jun 9. pii: bjsports-2017-098885. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-098885. [Epub ahead of print]

Full Text Not Freely Available

The International Ankle Consortium released the 2019 consensus statement on the clinical assessment of acute lateral ankle sprains. The aim of this consensus process was to “to develop, based on expert consensus, recommendations for structured clinical assessment of acute lateral ankle sprain injuries. These recommendations should have a particular emphasis on impairments that are known to associate with chronic ankle instability.” The expert panel agreed there were five important considerations regarding diagnosis (e.g., mechanism of injury, weight-bearing status) and 10 important things to consider when evaluating mechanical and sensorimotor impairments (e.g., pain, range of motion).  Each of these key topics are discussed in the consensus statement.

View 160 other recent position statements, consensus statements, guidelines, and recommendations related to sports medicine.

See also: 2016 consensus statement of the International Ankle Consortium: prevalence, impact and long-term consequences of lateral ankle sprains

Follow TRAILS to Understand Running Injuries

A 2-Year Prospective Cohort Study of Overuse Running Injuries: The Runners and Injury Longitudinal Study (TRAILS).

Messier SP, Martin DF, Mihalko SL, Ip E, DeVita P, Cannon DW, Love M, Beringer D, Saldana S, Fellin RE, Seay JF. Am J Sports Med.  2018 May 1:363546518773755. doi: 10.1177/0363546518773755. [Epub ahead of print]
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0363546518773755

Take Home Message: Among recreational runners, females and those with greater knee stiffness (often runners with a higher body mass) were more likely to develop overuse injuries.  Many long-established factors (e.g., arch height, Q-angle) had no relation with new overuse injuries. 

While running is a popular form of physical activity, the causes of running injuries remain a mystery. Very few researchers have followed runners over a long time and completed a comprehensive assessment of risk factors. Therefore, the authors undertook a prospective study to identify risk factors associated with running-related overuse injuries.

ESSKA-AFAS international consensus statement on peroneal tendon pathologies

The ESSKA-AFAS international consensus statement on peroneal tendon pathologies.

van Dijk PA, Miller D, Calder J, DiGiovanni CW, Kennedy JG, Kerkhoffs GM, Kynsburtg A, Havercamp D, Guillo S, Oliva XM, Pearce CJ, Pereira H, Spennacchio P, Stephen JM, van Dijk CN. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2018 May 16. doi: 10.1007/s00167-018-4971-x. [Epub ahead of print]

Full Text in Freely Available

The Ankle and Foot Associates (ESSKA-AFAS) of the European Society of Sports traumatology, Knee surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA) released a consensus statement offer “experience-based guidelines on the management of patients with peroneal tendon pathology, predicated on international and multidisciplinary agreement, and supported by systematic review of the literature.” The panel considered 10 questions that represented controversial and relevant questions to daily practice. Each question has recommendations and the authors provided a brief rationale for the recommendations.

View 159 other recent position statements, consensus statements, guidelines, and recommendations related to sports medicine.

Athletes Believe Sports Specialization Will Get Them The Scholarship

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs of Youth Club Athletes Toward Sport Specialization and Sport Participation.

Brooks MA, Post EG, Trigsted SM, Schaefer DA, Wichman DM, Watson AM, McGuine TA, Bell DR.Orthop J Sports Med. 2018 May 4;6(5):2325967118769836.

Full Text Freely Available

Take Home Message: Young athletes believe sport specialization will improve their sport performance and their chances of receiving a college scholarship; but, underappreciate the risk of injury.

Young athletes are increasingly choosing one specific sport to participate in year-round. Unfortunately, an athlete that specializes in one sport is more likely to develop an overuse injury without a better chance of getting a NCAA Division I scholarship compared with their peers (see related posts below). It remains unclear why young athletes specialize in a sport. Therefore, the authors surveyed 974 athletes (59% female) between the ages of 12-18 years old to describe the attitudes and beliefs of youth club sport athletes regarding sport specialization and sport participation.

Ditch Your Strips for Better Urine Specific Gravity Results

Urine reagent strips are inaccurate for assessing hypohydration: A brief report

Adams JD, Captain-Jimenez C, Huggins RA, Casa DJ, Mauromoustakos A, and Kavouras SA. Clin J Sport Med. [Epub Ahead of Print]. 2018.

https://journals.lww.com/cjsportsmed/Abstract/publishahead/Urine_Reagent_Strips_Are_Inaccurate_for_Assessing.99314.aspx

Take Home Message: Reagent strips are not very accurate at detecting a person with hypohydration.

Assessing athlete hydration is an important part of ensuring athlete safety, especially in weight-dependent sports such as wrestling. While refractometry is the gold standard, reagent strips are also commonly available as an alternative. To date, no one has directly compared the diagnostic ability of reagent strips to diagnose hypohydration compared to refractometry. Therefore, Adams and colleagues completed a study to investigate the validity of reagent strips to diagnose hypohydration.

Hidden in Plain Sight: Improving Quantification of Baseball Pitcher Workload

Unaccounted Workload Factor: Game-Day Pitch Counts in High School Baseball Pitchers – An Observational Study

Zaremski JL, Zeppieri G, Jones DL, Tripp BL, Bruner M, Vincent HK, Horodyski M.

Orthop J Sports Med. 2018; 6(4):2325967118765255

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2325967118765255

Take Home Message: Pitch counts for baseball pitchers typically only include those completed as part of regulation play. Warm-up and bullpen pitches should be considered in total pitch counts to better capture actual workload during a game.

Sports medicine researchers have established that injuries to the upper extremity as a result of repetitive throwing are frequent in high school baseball pitchers. Risk factors, such as high pitch counts and poor pitching mechanics, have been identified and baseball regulating bodies have enacted recommendations and policy to aid in protecting pitchers from injury. However, the prevalence of injuries has not declined; therefore, warm-up and bullpen activity may present repetitions that increase total pitch count but to date have not been considered. The authors hypothesized that current pitch counts (regulation pitches) are underrepresented by up to 30-40% and many pitches likely occur during warm-up and bullpen activity. Additionally, the authors postulate there would be highly variable pitch counts during bullpen activities. For this observational study, researchers collected counts for all pitches thrown from a mound for 34 high schools over the course of one competitive season (February to May).