Sports Medicine Statement Defines Best Practices

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and four other medical organizations released a team physician consensus statement that outlines best practices for injury and illness prevention for athletes at all levels of expertise.

The statement, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise and Current Sports Medicine Reports, provides recommendations on musculoskeletal injuries, head and neck injuries, heat illness, cardiovascular issues, equipment and injury reduction/modification, and skin infections. The statement updates one issued in 2007. Other groups involved in developing the statement were the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM), the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) and the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine (AOASM).

Key recommendations in the document include the importance of up-to-date treatment information for athletes, the role of sport-specific prevention programs and cautions regarding equipment safety. The statement addresses topics such as return-to-play decisions, concussion treatment, sideline preparedness and psychological issues.

“This paper offers guidelines for practice in the areas of injury and illness most commonly seen by team physicians, ” said Stanley Herring, M.D., clinical professor in the departments of Rehabilitation Medicine, Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, and Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. “It provides a roadmap of common issues facing medical professionals on the sidelines and in their offices.”

Jason Matuszak, M.D., of Buffalo, New York, is a sports medicine specialist who participated in the expert panel that developed the consensus statement. He said that the statements “serve as a guide for physicians who provide sports medicine services in their community but may not have formal training in sports medicine. Commonly injured joints include the shoulder, knee and ankle, and common medical problems include heat illness, skin infection and concussion. Ideally, we are working toward injury prevention, or at least mitigation, ” he said.

Matuszak warned that some equipment is being marketed with untrue claims that it will prevent injury. He said, “Given the growing concern and attention to youth sport safety and the potential for vendors to market to that concern, it is important for physicians dealing with athletes to be able to counsel patients and their parents about what equipment may or may not improve safety, or at least refer them to appropriate resources”

The statement is available here.