Artikel
Prevention of lower limb injuries in the military
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Veröffentlicht: | 24. Oktober 2011 |
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Gliederung
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Objective: Lower limb injuries represent a significant health issue within all military forces in both peacetime and combat situations. The aim of this paper is to review evidence based injury prevention strategies and how effective and realistic their implementation could be.
Material/Methods: Injury prevention recommendations can take the generalized form that encompass a whole military or alternatively relate to specific scenarios. The first step is an appropriate audit of not only the type and severity of an injury but also the mechanism and circumstances in which the injury occurred. This was the procedure adapted in a regional military sports medicine clinic. Data collected over a year was categorised utilizing the OSICS 10.1 [1].
Results: A high incidence of lower limb injuries was noted with a prevalence of ankle and knee injuries. Most occurred during physical training and sporting activity but an unexpected significant proportion also occurred due to motor vehicle accidents. Review of the current scientific evidence on the prevention of injuries during military training led to a number of general recommendations that could be implemented in any military base, but the audit findings also allowed a more specific approach. Hence, changes advised ranged from physical training structure, body weight management and hydration strategies to road safety education.
Conclusion: Most lower limb injuries are preventable. Recognising this and implementing the appropriate preventative strategies, some of them quite simple to undertake, can lead to a remarkable reduction in injury incidence.
References
- 1.
- Rae K, Orchard J. The Orchard Sports Injury Classification System (OSICS) version 10. Clin J Sport Med. 2007;17(3):201-4.