Rugby knee injuries

Detailed injury epidemiology is an invaluable tool for reducing risks associated with sporting injuries. Numerous studies have profiled rugby, but there remains a distinct lack of accurate surveillance data for knee injuries in professional sport. A multinational research team from Australia and the UK recently studied the injury profiles of 546 professional rugby union players from 12 clubs in England during two seasons (the epidemiology of knee injuries in english professional rugby union. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 2008: 35 (5) 818-830), in an attempt to establish whether:

* knee injuries had a greater impact on the game than other injuries

* anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament injuries are the major culprits when it comes to absence from training and match play.

Medical personnel at each club reported all knee injury episodes on a weekly basis. They also completed a standard report form for each injury, detailing diagnosis and associated information. The form remained with the club until the player returned to full fitness, allowing a complete treatment and rehab history to be reported.

The study’s findings supported previous research highlighting that rugby union is a high risk sport for players’ knees. Injuries to the knee accounted for the highest number of days for injury absence (7,776 days or 21% of all injury absence days) and were characteristically severe, with a disproportionately high number of days missed per injury (37 days).

ACL injuries accounted for the greatest proportion of days missed (255 days, or 29% of all knee-injury days), followed by MCL injuries (25%). Most severe injuries occurred during contact, usually tackles (being tackled rather than doing the tackling), and in the final 20 minutes of a match. Injuries tended to be more common among the back row.

The incidence of knee injuries sustained during matches was higher than in all other football codes, surpassed only by international rugby union. Each of the clubs studied sustained, on average, 10 knee injuries per season, resulting in an average of 353 days’ absence.

This study provides information that can be used to direct and monitor the effectiveness of strategies designed to reduce the overall risk of injury. to cause degenerative metabolic changes in some regions of cartilage if the tissue cannot adapt to the new loading pattern. These rapid changes result in fibrillation and other structural breakdown, initiating the onset of OA.

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