Injured players on two New York sports teams will be fortunate to have local experts on hand to help. It’s now official…NYU Langone Medical Center will serve as the official Medical Center and team doctors for the New York Empire season and the Mylan World TeamTennis.
NYU Langone: Official Docs for NY Empire, Mylan TeamTennis

“We welcome NYU Langone Medical Center to our growing team of partners, ” said Colleen Hopkins, Empire general manager, in the news release. “Mylan World TeamTennis has always been about best in class relationships, and there are no better partners to have on the medical side than the doctors and staff of one of the world’s elite facilities.”
Dennis Cardone, D.O., will oversee the partnership as team physician. Dr. Cardone is an associate professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, chief of primary care sports medicine, and co-director of the Concussion Center at NYU Langone. He also serves as the head team physician for the athletic programs at NYU and Long Island University, the chief medical officer for the New York City Public Schools Athletic League, and as a team physician for the U.S. Open tennis tournament.
“We are looking forward to helping keep the elite players of the Empire healthy and on the court during the season, ” said Dr. Cardone.
As indicated in the news release, “The 2016 Mylan WTT season presented by GEICO season marks a return to professional tennis at one of the sport’s most historic facilities. The restored facility will be configured to seat 2, 500 for six home matches from July 31 through August 13. Patrick McEnroe will serve as the coach of the Empire, and former US Open champion Andy Roddick will be the team’s marquee player along with New Jersey native, former Olympian and rising WTA star Christina McHale.”
Dr. Cardone recently told OTW, “The most exciting aspect of being involved with the NY Empire in World Team Tennis is being in a great environment with elite tennis players. It’s always a great joy to work with athletes at the top of their games and try to keep them at their healthiest. As a physician if you get to cover tennis, on the court coverage is hopefully not that busy when it comes to injuries, but I am there in the event of a musculoskeletal injury or other issue that might occur, such as an upper respiratory infection or heat illness.
“Strains and sprains are the most common orthopedic injuries seen in elite tennis players. These injuries occur to the upper and lower extremities. Muscle strain injuries are especially common in the rotator cuff, hamstring, and calf muscles. Sprained ligaments, such as from turning an ankle, are common in in sports with stopping and pivoting.”

Discussion
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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