In my sports fitness column last week – Concussions For NFL Players Are Linked to Other Injuries – I referenced University of North Carolina research appearing in the November issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, which traced the association of concussions in NFL players to the potential for an increased risk to lower extremity injuries at some point in their careers.
Subsequently, several readers made poignant comments on this topic. One reader noted, “dubious findings since nearly 50% or greater (of NFL players) have lower extremity injuries, (so) further research is definitely warranted,” while another reader posted, “this (research) is very interesting, and makes sense. However, it is hard to prove causality in this case.”
In the same journal’s upcoming December issue, UNC researchers write that, “college athletes are at increased risk of acute lower extremity musculoskeletal injury for up to 365 days after concussion.”
This study – “Acute Lower Extremity Injury Rates Increase after Concussions in College Athletes”- examined National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 athletes from January 1, 2010 to October 8, 2013.
These athletes participated in a variety of sports such as – men’s cross country, field hockey, football, and soccer, along with women’s sports like – basketball, soccer, swimming, and tennis.
Eighty-three college athletes with concussions were “physician-diagnosed,” of which forty-four were randomly selected for data analysis. Non-concussed college athletes (58) were matched to individuals who were concussed – with, “acute lower extremity musculoskeletal injury rates collected for two years using electronic medical records.”
The results reflected that, “within 1 yr. after concussion, the group with concussion was 1.97 times more likely to have experienced an acute lower extremity musculoskeletal injury after concussion than before concussion, and 1.64 times more likely to have experienced an acute lower extremity musculoskeletal injury after concussion than their matched nonconcussed cohort over the same period.”
In fact, “up to 180 days after concussion, the group with concussion was 2.02 times more likely to have experienced an acute lower extremity musculoskeletal injury after concussion than before concussion.”
Due to the fact that the current college study has a small numbers of participants, New Orleans Orthopedic surgeon and lower extremity injury expert Field Ogden said, “all you can say is what their conclusions are – that a concussed athlete is more likely than a nonconcussed athlete to have a lower extremity injury within the next year.”
Notes Ogden, “(it) makes sense — an athlete that plays whatever sport with such abandon as to sustain a single concussion is, in my opinion, more likely to sustain another significant injury: lower extremity, repeat concussion, and etc.”
So after two separate concussion studies – one on retired NFL players and the current one on Division 1 college athletes – what’s the take-away message?
Mark Letendre, former fourteen year head athletic trainer (A.T,C) for the San Francisco Giants and for the last sixteen years, head of Umpire Medical Services for Major League Baseball (MLB) explains that, “as we gain more insight into the long term effects of concussions, studies which evaluate its potential effects on lower extremities injuries will play a bigger role in the total recovery and functional health of the concussed athlete. It’s still too early to tell.”
Well stated from a man who has been instrumental in the design and implementation of the concussion management program for MLB umpires.
Needless to say, much more research is needed on the long- term effects a concussion has on an athlete’s ability to perform and withstand future injury related to prior head trauma.
The investigators concluded that, “our findings underscore the need to explore functional movement and dynamic postural control assessments in post concussion injury assessment protocols.
It looks like all professional sports have much more work ahead to keep players safe.
Mackie Shilstone, a regular contributor to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, has been involved in the wellness sports performance industry for nearly 40 years. He is currently a fitness consultant to Serena Williams and has trained numerous other professional athletes and consulted a litany of professional sports franchises. He is St. Charles Parish Hospital’s fitness and wellness expert. Contact him at mackieshilstone.com.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.nola.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/11/optimum_performance_athletes_w.html