The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) held their 2010 Annual Meeting just a week and a half ago, from July 15-18 in the “ocean state” of Rhode Island at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. Designed to spotlight research in orthopedic sports medicine, this year’s gathering offered up some intriguing studies. And then of course there were the awards and general society housekeeping that takes place at these sort of affairs. This year was no different, with a dozen honorees that we counted and the introduction of a new president to the society. If you didn’t attend, sit back and enjoy the happenings, only missing out on the coastal New England sea breeze.
New Coach for the Team
At the annual meeting a new president for the AOSSM was installed. Robert A. Stanton, M.D., is the chairman and managing partner for Orthopaedic Specialty Group, P.C. in Fairfield, Connecticut. Working with the AOSSM is nothing new for Stanton as he’s sat on the Board of Directors, Medical Publishing Board of Trustees and Council of Delegates.
Interestingly enough, Stanton, while in medical school, studied at the School of International Affairs at Columbia, focusing on diplomacy, a skill that will undoubtedly come in handy as AOSSM president. Presently, the Clinical Instructor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Yale University School of Medicine, Stanton is the Senior Attending Physician at Bridgeport Hospital and on staff at St. Vincent’s Medical Center and Fairfield Surgery Center.
Although Stanton is currently team physician for numerous local teams, he was also a physician at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1980 and for some 30 years has offered up his physician services to the U.S. National Ski Team.
Rhode Island Convention Center at Night/ Rhode Island Convention Center
Meet: Mr. Sports Medicine 2010
With a name like Champ, it seems obvious Champ L. Baker, Jr., M.D., is perfectly suited to be serving in the world of sports. The Georgia-based orthopedic surgeon was awarded the 2010 Robert E. Leach Mr. Sports Medicine title on the third day of the conference. Given to a doctor who has made a significant contribution to the field of sports medicine, the award carries with it a $5, 000 donation to the winner’s charity of choice.
Currently staff physician at The Hughston Clinic in Columbus, Georgia, and Clinical Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Georgia, Baker also chairs the Board of Directors at The Hughston Foundation, while teaching at Tulane and the Medical College of Georgia.
As a past AOSSM president, Baker has also served as team physician for the University of Alabama, and is now team physician for Columbus State University. And Baker took his practice international, as a volunteer physician for the U.S. Olympic Committee.
An All-Star Roster
Other honorees included the “Ski Safety Pioneer, ” Robert P. Mack, M.D., who was inducted into the society’s Hall of Fame over the weekend. Mack is synonymous with ski safety after his research led to an internationally accepted mechanism that works to test ski bindings. This research snowballed (excuse the pun) when it was shown that none of the ski bindings on the market were safe. We all owe Mack some thanks for this project which led to the creation of ASTM (American Society of Testing and Materials) a familiar acronym that can be found on thousands of products for purchase. And skiers benefited directly as well, with alpine skiing tibia fractures being cut down to almost zero, thanks to these findings and the resulting change in practices.
Finally, Dr. Mack created in association with the Rainbow Sports Medicine Center a junior athletic trainer program for high school students who attend inner city schools. This program allows these young athletes to have care from sideline trainers, a virtually unheard of perk for underserved youth.
Part of the goal of this gathering isn’t just to share current research, but to expand and inspire further work in orthopedic sports medicine.
This translates to eight research awards (NCAA Research Award, AJSM Systematic Review Award Excellence in Research Award to name a few) and two grant awards over the weekend. Here’s a quick rundown of what to look forward to from these grants:
2010 Young Investigators Grant—Demetrios Delos, M.D., orthopedic resident at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City is evaluating platelet rich plasma (PRP) and this controversial therapy’s effects on skeletal muscle healing, including what effect PRP has on the body’s post-injury inflammatory response.
2010 Sandy Kirkley Clinical Research Outcome Grant—EERAADS is the second of a two-part investigation by Daniel B. Whelan, M.D., MSc, FRCSC, Assistant Professor for the Division of Orthopedics at St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto. The study is looking to find out about the efficacy of external rotation (ER) immobilization after an initial shoulder dislocation. Could the immediate application of an ER brace help speed recovery? This study should help us answer that question.
Emerging Sports Medicine Science
And now on to what we’ve all been waiting for, the new research! We’ve highlighted a few already in our news shorts (view them here), but there are close to 60 abstracts in all that you can sift through here. We’ve pulled out a few interesting scientific presentations for your enjoyment below:
Major League Baseball Pitchers 34% more likely to suffer field injuries than other players—This review of professional baseball player injuries from 2002 to 2008 has some interesting data to it. For instance 77% of the injuries to pitchers happen before the All-Star break. Why is that? Maj., Matthew Posner, M.D., orthopedic surgeon at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, says really little research has been done into the epidemiology of professional baseball players. A noteworthy detail of this study is that an Internet web site of disabled list data was used to compile the stats. Fielders didn’t come off injury-free of course, they just appear to have a greater proportion of lower extremity injuries. And speaking of the All Star Game…which division do you think suffers from more injuries? The answer is a surprisingly balanced distribution, so no winner or loser here.
Tim Lincecum Pitching/Wikimedia Commons
ACL Reconstruction: Double-Bundle Versus Single-Bundle
Here is a randomized clinical and MRI study with a two-year follow-up time that looked at which technique has the better outcomes. Timo J. Jarvela M.D., Ph.D. of Finland looked at 136 patients and used blind evaluation methods such as clinical examination, the pivot shift test, KT-1000 arthrometric measurements, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) and Lysholm scores, plus MRIs. The findings showed that the double-bundle reconstruction method exceeded the singular method, with these benefits noted:
- significantly less graft failures
- better rotational and anterior stability
- better IKDC final scores.
However the caveat is that no differences were detected in the Lysholm, nor IKDC function scores.
Questioning ACL Prevention Methods
There has been a major push in the last decade for ACL injury prevention programs to come into play, especially for female athletes who are at a much great risk for such tears. But Kevin G. Shea, M.D., of Intermountain Orthopaedics in Boise, Idaho, has created a study that calls these methods into question. Looking at medical databases and focusing on ACL injury data, Shea and his team found no randomized prospective evidence to show these types of preventative exercise programs reduced the risk of these types of knee injuries. Non-randomized prospective surveys fared better with 7 out of 12 studies showing reduction in injuries, but it was also noted that these studies had significant design flaws. The study does offer a counter argument to the hype surrounding preventative exercises, forcing the sports community to look for hard evidence of efficacy, instead of feel-good solutions.
Space doesn’t allow us to review all of the interesting papers and presentations but there was a lot to chew on this year. Next year’s meeting is scheduled for July 7, 2010 in San Diego, California. Whether it is new procedures, biologics or a better understanding for existing techniques, the AOSSM is one of the most important meetings of the year.
