Guest blog by Professor Lars Engebretsen

Photo by Aktivioslo, Flickr CC

The recent World Championship in Snowboard in Oslo, Norway led me to the question in this blog’s title. I am a sports doc with extensive experience in treating high level athletes in almost all kinds of sports (except Aussie rules football and cricket).

Since 2000, I have been involved in studies aiming at preventing sports injuries. We have targeted football (soccer), team handball and Alpine skiing and have had some success.  Newer sports however, keep popping up. Almost like the doping hunters  - often being too late to prevent new, effective performance drugs – it seems that we are too late to prevent injuries in some of the new sports.  I was reminded of this during the recent Snowboard Championship in Oslo: new venues for cross, half pipe and slope style situated beautifully in the Oslo countryside. The first days had bad weather and difficult light and there were some serious injuries- not life threatening, but nevertheless serious.

I have noticed a similarity with the last few Olympic games: the venues get bigger, the athletes better trained and with ever increasing abilities. Unfortunately, there is also an increase in injuries. The numbers from Vancouver showed that 35% of snowboard cross and 13% of half pipers experienced injuries.

What can we do to prevent these? We can count injuries, identify risk factors, study how to reduce these and aggressively implement our knowledge. In the meantime, the sporting venues get larger and more challenging and knowledge from our studies become yesterday’s news. I know that the majority of the athletes appreciate the danger, but I am not sure that the top leaders of the sport have the same awareness.

I need ideas to help the athletes operate in a safer environment- any ideas?

Note that the BJSM publishes 4 issues a year dedicated to Injury Prevention and athletes’ Health Protection (IPHP). You can find these issues of BJSM by clicking here. The next IPHP issue will launch in June and will focus on Olympic Sports. IPHP issues are published as part of BJSM’s partnership with the International Olympic Committee.

Nik Zoricik dcath: News story here. (added March 10th). Updated March 15th

Related Articles

Bakken A, Bere T, and Bahr R et. al. 2011. Mechanisms of injuries in World Cup Snowboard Cross: a systematic video analysis of 19 cases. Br J Sports Med. 45:1315-1322 Published Online First: 15 November 2011.

Lars Engebretsen L and  Steffen K. 2009. Warm up The importance of sports medicine for the Vancouver Olympic Games. Br J Sports Med. 43:961-962.

J Torjussen J,  and Bahr R. 2006. Injuries among elite snowboarders (FIS Snowboard World Cup). Br J Sports Med. 40:230-234 .

Engebretsen L, and Bahr R. 2005. Injury prevention – Leader An ounce of prevention? Br J Sports Med. 39:312-313.

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Lars Engebretsen MD PhD is a professor and director of research at Orthopaedic Center, Ullevål university hospital and University of Oslo Medical School and professor and co-chair of the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center. He is also Chief Doctor for the Norwegian Federation of Sports, and headed the medical service at the Norwegian Olympic Center until the autumn of 2011. In 2007 he was appointed Head of Science and Research for the International Olympic Comittee (IOC). Professor Engebretsen is Editor of the IPHP issues of BJSM (Injury Prevention & Health Protection)

The IOC has made many terrific contribution to sports medicine education and policy. We emphasize its partnership with the BJSM through the 2009-2012 Olympic cycle – the IOC has convened conferences on major topics and added tremendous value to the field by publishing summary documents in quarterly themed issues of BJSM. Lars Engebretsen is the editor of these 4 annual IOC issues that focus on Injury Prevention and Health Promotion. For example, the summary statement on non-contact ACL injuries has had well over 25,000 downloads -  just one example of great influence! But enough about the knee already – this blog is about kids!

SPECIAL EDITION BJSM – ALL ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE IN SPORT

Check the outcomes of February’s IOC Consensus Meeting on the health and fitness of young people through physical activity and sport. There is an authoritative Consensus Paper (free as editor’s choice).

Papers by Neil Armstrong and by Ulf Ekelund review the current levels of fitness and activity in young people. Have the kids really gone to pot?

How physical inactivity links with cardiovascular disease, obesity, bone health, mental health issues and sports injury are all captured in this issue.

And that’s just a taste! Check out the table of contents and Dr Margo Mountjoy’s overview of the role of sport in the health and fitness of young people.

Keeping with BJSM’s ongoing theme of ‘implementation’, there is also a paper examining ‘Context for Action’ — how various organizations and institutions can promote sport participation and address inactivity in youth.

Check it out! And remember, you can get an alert to our 3 times weekly blogs via Twitter – @BJSM_BMJ.

Did I mention the podcasts? Over 20 experts in sports medicine via the convenience of podcasts.

Enough for now! Have a great, injury-free and physically active day!

This issue of BJSM – one of the 16 annually – focuses on keeping young people healthy. Many readers are not aware that the IOC and BJSM partner to produce 4 issues of the BJSM annually. These issues focus on the IOC mission of ‘Athlete Protection and Health Promotion’. The special issues, generally appearing in March, June, September and December (issue numbers 3, 7, 11, 15) are tagged as Injury Prevention and Health Promotion (IPHP) issues.

The (IOC) recognises the health and fitness benefits of physical activity (PA) and sport as stated in recommendation #51 from the Olympic Movement in Society Congress  Everyone involved in the Olympic Movement must become more aware of the fundamental importance of Physical Activity and sport for a healthy lifestyle, not least in the growing battle against obesity, and must reach out to parents and schools as part of a strategy to counter the rising inactivity of young people.1

Read the consensus paper from the expert group meeting in Lausanne

The IOC expert group  discussed the role of PA and sport on the health and fitness of young people and to critically evaluate the scientific evidence as a basis for decision making. Specifically, the purpose of this consensus paper is to identify potential solutions through collaboration between sport and existing programmes and to review the research gaps in this field. The ultimate aim of the paper is to provide recommendations for those involved in young people’s sport.

We’ll highlight other papers from the issue this week – check out the table of contents.

Comment via the box below or to karim.khan@ubc.ca. Send us a Guest Blog! You just email the word document and we do the rest! Follow BJSM on Twitter @BJSM_BMJ for updates to the blog and links to other interesting practical sports and exercise medicine for clincians.

BJSM aims to be relevant to clinicians and to influence practice. It has been pleasing to see BJSM quoted in the New York Times, the Financial Post, and other major international news outlets. Our September issue (PDF), in partnership with the IOC continues to have an impact the world over. This link is to the widely read US News. To read the editorial about sudden cardiac death for athletes in the September issue click here.

This month TIME Magazine‘s website, picked up on BJSM’s IOC Issue – Screening for Sudden Cardiac Death. Read the article at TIME.com here.

The deadline for proposals for the 2011 IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport is November 1st 2009 – act now!

- K. Khan

Based on the tremendous success of the 1st and 2nd World Congresses on Sports Injury Prevention in Oslo in 2005 and Tromsø in 2008, their successor, the IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport, will be held in Monaco from 7 to 9 April 2011. The scientific committee now welcomes your proposals for meeting sessions and speakers. The deadline for submission of proposals is 1 November 2009.

When submitting proposals, please refer to the enclosed definitions of meeting sessions. To be considered for inclusion in the programme, your proposal must strictly follow the format outlined in the enclosed instructions. Your proposal will be evaluated by the scientific committee, and the final programme of invited speakers will be ready by 1 February 2009.

The IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport will follow the model of the 2005 & 2008 congresses, with a multidisciplinary perspective on sports injury prevention for different sports and different injury types, including studies on intervention methods, epidemiology, risk factors and injury mechanisms. However, as reflected by the change in title, the scope of the congress will be expanded from sports injury prevention, to also include the prevention of other health problems associated with sports participation.

The three-day programme will include four or five keynote lectures, about 20 symposia, 15-20 workshops, in addition to free communications and posters. Please note that, at this time, we are asking only for proposals for keynote lectures, symposia and workshops – not abstracts for free communications. The deadline for submission of abstracts for free communications and posters will be 1 January 2011.

Please reply to Cherine Fahmy at info@ioc-preventionconference.org at your earliest convenience, but not later than 1 November 2009.

Note that although the congress committee will cover the cost of accommodation and social events for invited speakers, we will not be able to reimburse travel costs, since we plan to invite a considerable number of international speakers to be able to feature a first-class programme. We encourage you to visit the congress website, where more information will be posted over the next few months.

Monaco is situated on the most beautiful coast in Europe, built on a rock between the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea. Its mild climate, easy access, excellent hotels and security are the principal qualities which make Monaco a prestigious destination for an unforgettable event. Furthermore, the Grimaldi Forum, a state-of- the-art conference centre for the 3rd millennium, daringly built out over the sea with a total area of 35.000 m2, is the perfect location to receive a high standard congress such as the IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport”.

We welcome your programme proposals and look forward to a spectacular congress in Monaco in June 2011! Yours faithfully,

Roald Bahr (s)
President, Scientific Committee

Fredrik Bendiksen (s)
President, Organising Committee

Photo by _Pixelmaniac_ (available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license)