S a f e S p o r t s FOR KIDS Australia’s hidden but preventable sports injury health epidemic Dr Chris Vertullo, Orthopeadic Surgeon Australian sport is great. Australian sport for Australian kids is really great. Not only is it fun, but it teaches important life skills and experiences. In addition, sports and exercise participation is vital in preventing obesity and other associated diseases by keeping people fit and active. The downside of all team sports played in Australia is the high rate of knee injury and lower limb injury. In fact, sports injuries causing admission to hospital are growing at 6% per year in Australia, while injury from other causes like car accidents are dropping by 6% per year. This is causing an injury epidemic that is plaguing the nation’s youth to the tune of a $220 million health bill, with sports injuries (particularly joint injuries) accounting for almost half of all hospitalisations for young people. Of the 19,741 hospitalisations last year, almost half (9,820) were the result of team ball sports. This means, over half-a-million Australians have a longterm health issue resulting from a sporting injury from their youth, with the most common sports injury in Australia being rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (the ACL). Australians are almost twice as likely to rupture their ACL compared to any other country, with ACL reconstruction having an incidence of over 250 per 100,000 persons annually in males aged between 15 and 25 years. Over the last 14 years, there were over 140,000 ACL reconstructions in Australia. ACL injury has major implications for an injured person’s quality of life, their risk of osteoarthritis and longterm injury. In addition, sports injury to the knee can also cause other damage such as meniscal tears. The great news is that most of these knee and lower limb injuries from sport are actually preventable. The big problem is that no one ever finds this out until they are in an orthopeadic surgeon’s office with a knee injury. Knee reconstructions are big operations, and while they usually work out pretty well for most injured young athletes, osteoarthritis is inevitable in the future, particularly if the menisci are damaged. IMAGINE HOW MUCH BETTER IT WOULD BE IF YOU NEVER HAD THE INJURY IN THE FIRST PLACE? Simple neuromuscular training programs can prevent these severe lower limb injuries in young athletes. Multiple studies from around the world show a 50 - 80% reduction in lower limb and cruciate injuries with these programs. The programs are inexpensive and replace a traditional warm-up program with special neuromuscular exercises delivered via smart phone apps. These Sports Injury Prevention Programs are based on internationally accepted training techniques to encompass a modified warm-up to improve balance and agility in young athletes. These training techniques have widespread support from eminent international organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA. The big problem is a lack of awareness that most lower limb sports injuries are not just bad luck, but actually bad preparation. Surprisingly, at the moment, there is no nationally coordinated sports safety policy, program or action plan to address this epidemic. pindaramagazine.com.au Pindara Magazine 49
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Nine
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