American football

Abstract

It is an understatement to say that American football is a high impact sport. Injuries are common; often the result of high-energy trauma and can be quite significant. Given the cleat-surface interactions, a multitude of foot and ankle injuries can occur and it is not within the scope of this chapter to cover all of these injuries and the intricacies of their management. However, a few common injuries will be discussed with a focus on the subtleties to the treatment of American football players who have sustained these injuries. Epidemiologic studies are available, unfortunately, level 1 and level 2 studies are for the most part not available regarding football related foot and ankle studies. Additionally, significant work has been done by the league in conjunction with the senior author to improve cleat-surface interactions and this has not been published.