Ultrasound Guidance Does Not Improve the Results of Shock Wave for Plantar Fasciitis or Calcific Achilles Tendinopathy: A Randomized Control Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To establish whether the use of ultrasound to direct shock waves to the area of greater calcification in calcaneal enthesopathies was more effective than the common procedure of directing shock waves to the point where the patient has the most tenderness. DESIGN: Two-armed nonblinded randomized control trial with allocation concealment. SETTING: The Sports Clinic at Sydney University. PATIENTS: Participants 18 years or older with symptomatic plantar fasciitis (PF) (with heel spur) or calcific Achilles tendinopathy (CAT). Seventy-four of 82 cases completed treatment protocol and 6-month follow-up. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomized to receive either ultrasound-guided (UG) or patient-guided (PG) shock wave at weekly intervals over 3 to 5 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Reduced pain on visual analog scale (VAS) and improved functional score on Maryland Foot Score (MFS) (for PF) or Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) (for CAT). Follow-up was at 6 weeks and 3 and 6 months. RESULTS: Comparative 6-month improvements in MFS for the 47 PF cases were PG +20/100 and UG +14/100 (P = 0.20). Comparative 6-month improvement in VISA-A score for the 27 CAT cases were PG +35/100 and UG +27/100 (P = 0.37). Comparative (combined PF and CAT) 6-month improvement in VAS pain scores for all 38 PG cases were +38/100 with +37/100 for all 36 UG shock wave cases. CONCLUSIONS: Although both treatment groups had good clinical outcomes in this study, results for the 2 study groups were almost identical. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study shows that there is no major advantage in the addition of ultrasound for guiding shock waves when treating calcaneal enthesopathies (PF and CAT).

Depression, Anxiety, and Alcohol Use in Elite Rugby League Players Over a Competitive Season.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and rates of alcohol misuse in elite rugby league players in Australasia. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, epidemiological study with repeated measures. SETTING: Surveys were conducted during the 2015 preseason and in-season. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred four elite rugby league players participated preseason and 278 players in-season. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Symptoms of depression were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scale, symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) with the GAD-7 scale, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption scale was used to assess hazardous alcohol use. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of depression was 12.6% preseason and 10.1% in-season. Generalized anxiety disorder had a prevalence of 14.6% and 10.1% for these 2 periods. Overall, 68.6% of players had hazardous levels of alcohol use preseason, and 62.8% in-season. There was no significant difference for any of the main outcomes between the periods. Players with a history of mental illnesses had 5.62 greater odds (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.62-12.04) of depression than those without during preseason, and 22.08 greater odds (95% CI, 7.77-62.71) in-season. Players reporting ≥3 previous concussions had 2.02 greater odds (95% CI, 1.07-3.82) of depression than those reporting ≤2 in the preseason sample. CONCLUSIONS: Rugby league players have a lower prevalence of depression compared with studies of the general population and other athletes, but a higher prevalence of GAD, and high rates of alcohol misuse. Clubs may consider implementing regular screening for these conditions. Further prospective research to determine causality of independent factors is required.

Systematic review: Annual incidence of ACL injury and surgery in various populations.

Accurate documentation of injury incidence is critical for study of injury risk factors and prevention. Comparisons of published incidences of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and surgical reconstructions are difficult, however, because of the variations in units. Some studies report absolute time-based denominators (such as annual incidence or incidence per 100,000 person years), whereas others report exposure-based denominators (such as incidence per 1,000 player hours or athlete exposures). We converted exposure-based units into annual incidences to compare various studies. National population studies show annual incidence rates of up to 0.05% per person per year in Australia. Professional athletes in basketball, soccer, and the other football codes report an annual incidence of 0.15%-3.7% in studies with at least a moderate sample size. Annual ACL incidence in amateur sporting groups was generally higher than the entire population but lower than among professional athletes. Converting incidence rates to annual units allowed better comparisons to be made between population rates across different studies.