Rugby enthusiasts can rest easy knowing that a new experienced sports medicine specialist will be helping to care for their favorite big league players. Jeffrey Mjaanes, M.D., a head physician for the DePaul University Blue Demons and a team physician for the United States Soccer Federation, has been added to the medical team for the USA Men’s Rugby team, the USA Eagles. Dr. Mjaanes is an orthopedic surgeon at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush.
Jeffrey Mjaanes, M.D. Added to USA Men’s Rugby Medical Team
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When the USA Eagles take on the New Zealand All Blacks team at their Saturday, November 1, 2014 game at Soldier Field, it’s Dr. Mjaanes who will be on site as the official physician. Dr. Mjaanes will attend team practices and then travel with the team to Romania for a week.
According to the September 24, 2014 news release, “Dr. Mjaanes previously worked with the team in February during training camps in Atlanta, Georgia, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His role was to help prepare them for the Rugby World Cup Qualifier held in Montevideo, Uruguay, where they tied 27-27. The team then returned to Georgia and beat Uruguay 32-13, advancing to compete in the World Cup in 2015.”
Dr. Mjaanes told OTW, “Ever since covering my first rugby match, I have been captivated by the sport. I am excited to be working with such a great group of athletes as they make their way to the World Cup.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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