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Archive for ‘Joint Injury’

Kienbock’s Disease: Evidence Based Assessment and Management

Kienbock’s Disease: Evidence Based Assessment and Management

Posted on 27. Jun, 2012 by .

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Kienbock’s Disease is a rare and infrequently discussed source of wrist pain that you could definitely encounter in your clinical practice. The condition is named after the Viennese radiologist Robert Kienbock who presented his findings on the disorder in his 1910 publication ‘Concerning traumatic malacia of the lunate and its consequences’. This condition, discussed in depth below, primarily affects people between 15 and 40 years old and has been documented in athletes from many sports that include repetitive use of the wrist e.g. golf, tennis, martial arts, etc . Therefore, if you work with athletes from these sports, you should remain on high alert for the occurrence of Kienbock’s disease.

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Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex Tears: Evidence Based Assessment and Management

Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex Tears: Evidence Based Assessment and Management

Posted on 06. May, 2012 by .

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Introduction With a name like that, all physiotherapists will remember this one! But how much detail is remembered? Have a quick think about how many wrist patients you see, compared to knee or back patients. If you are in a private practice/outpatient clinic with a demographic anything like mine you will be seeing mostly backs, […]

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Athletic Pubalgia (Sports Hernia): Evidence Based Diagnosis and Management

Athletic Pubalgia (Sports Hernia): Evidence Based Diagnosis and Management

Posted on 18. Apr, 2012 by .

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Groin pain is a common complaint in sports involving running, kicking and explosive changes of direction, and as such is frequently encountered by the sports physiotherapist. In soccer, groin and lower abdominal pain accounts for 10-13% of injuries per year. However, due to the number of potential differential diagnoses for athletes with chronic pain in the groin and lower abdominal region only a small proportion of athletes are eventually diagnosed with athletic pubalgia (sports hernias). Athletic pubalgia is a poorly understood disease process and it is imperative that athletes with the condition are managed appropriately as the symptoms can eventually limit the athlete’s participation in training and playing.

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Osgood Schlatters Disease: Diagnosis and Management

Osgood Schlatters Disease: Diagnosis and Management

Posted on 21. Mar, 2012 by .

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Any physiotherapist working with academy footballers will know that these players are at risk of overuse injuries due to their immature musculoskeletal systems (1). However, it is imperative that therapists can confidently identify when the players require a therapeutic intervention rather than dismissing their symptoms as ‘growing pains’. It has been found that 5% of all injuries in football academies are due to overuse (1), as some young footballers will partake in high volumes of physical activity. This article will discuss the evidence based management of Osgood-Schlatters condition.

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Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: Can We Predict Who Will Get It?

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: Can We Predict Who Will Get It?

Posted on 12. Mar, 2012 by .

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Patellofemoral pain syndrome is a condition that is commonly encountered by the sports physiotherapist. There is a clear reason for this, it has been reported to affect approximately 25% of athletes (DeHaven & Lintner, 1986). Furthermore, it is the most commonly reported injury sustained by runners (Taunton et al., 2002). Thus, it is the subject of much discussion on this site, and we have provided articles on a number of management options for patellofemoral pain syndrome. However, this article will discuss new research on potential prospective indicators for the development of patellofemoral pain syndrome.

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Pigmented Villonodular Synovitis of the Knee

Pigmented Villonodular Synovitis of the Knee

Posted on 31. Jan, 2012 by .

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Now, I’m not hear to scare you. But there are many conditions out there that are so uncommon that we often don’t even know that they exist. Unfortunately, sometimes these conditions may walk into our clinics and have us shaking our heads in disbelief and asking ourselves… ‘why don’t you fit into that diagnosis!’. I think for many pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) of the knee is one of these diagnoses. It is quite rare, however, it presents similarly to many of the conditions that we as sports physiotherapists treat on a daily basis. This article discusses PVNS including assessment, diagnosis, and the treatment options.

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Joint Line Fullness for Diagnosing Meniscal Pathology

Joint Line Fullness for Diagnosing Meniscal Pathology

Posted on 18. Jan, 2012 by .

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In the world of sports physiotherapy the assessment and diagnosis of knee pathology is a daily event. As we are all well aware, an accurate diagnosis is achieved only via a skilled subjective and objective examination. Thus, sports physiotherapists will regularly rely on the results of special orthopaedic or clinical tests to make a diagnosis. This is well covered ground on this site, as we regularly the discuss the diagnostic accuracy of clinical tests for common conditions. However, there is always new research regarding the accuracy of existing techniques and the development of new ones. This leads to new research on the use of joint line fullness to assist in the diagnosis of meniscal tears. This article will discuss the technique and its potential clinical utility.

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Juvenile Osteochondritis Dissecans Of the Knee: Assessment and Management

Juvenile Osteochondritis Dissecans Of the Knee: Assessment and Management

Posted on 21. Dec, 2011 by .

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In the sports physiotherapy world we are frequently called upon to assess and treat athletes of all ages. As you might expect, this may range from young children through to nonagenarian Master’s athletes. Sports physiotherapists would know when dealing with young athletes missing a career-ending (yes, career) diagnosis can be unforgivable. One such diagnosis is juvenile osteochondritis dissecans of the knee, a condition that commonly affects athletic children, and one that if left unchecked could jeopardise the integrity of their knee. Thus, accurate and timely diagnosis followed by appropriate management is essential when dealing with juvenile osteochondritis dissecans…..

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Matrix-Induced Autologous Cartilage Implantation (MACI): Part 2

Matrix-Induced Autologous Cartilage Implantation (MACI): Part 2

Posted on 31. Aug, 2011 by .

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In the previous article (see below) we discussed the MACI procedure including a rough guideline for physiotherapy rehabilitation following the surgery. In this article we will expand on this idea and discuss the mid-term outcomes of the surgery, including that which we are all interested in; return to play outcomes.

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Matrix-Induced Autologous Cartilage Implantation (MACI): Part 1

Matrix-Induced Autologous Cartilage Implantation (MACI): Part 1

Posted on 25. Aug, 2011 by .

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In the world of sports physiotherapy and sports medicine articular cartilage defects of the knee are commonly seen (Reinold et al., 2006). Unfortunately, in these cases we find non-operative approaches are ineffective given the avascular nature of articular cartilage. Thus, there has been the development of a large number of surgical techniques to address articular cartilage lesions. This article will discuss a relatively new technique, Matrix-induced autologous cartilage implantation or MACI, including an overview of technique, mid-term outcomes and of course the rehabilitation implications for physiotherapists.

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