Upper limb injuries in sports

Abstract

Injuries, either to the athletes, amateurs, trainees or professional players, are common in any sporting event. Injuries can be to the limbs or to the trunk; acute, chronic or repetitive, from mild to severely disabling in severity. The most commonly injured regions are knee (28%) followed by the upper limb (23%). The common upper extremity injuries are the shoulder, followed by elbow and wrist. The type, biomechanics and frequencies of the use of the body parts determine the injury patterns. Shoulder injuries are more common in cricket players, during delivery or follow through of the bowler or throw of the fielder, either acute or chronic. Pain in the upper extremity, to shoulder and elbow are common in throwing sports, racquet sports and swimming while wrist pain is common in young gymnasts. Elbow injuries are common in athletes with over the head and arm motions. In chronic conditions, either lateral or medial epicondylitis (50%), popularly known as tennis elbow or golfers elbow are due to repetitive valgus or varus stress impacts. This repetitive stress pathology from mild to severely disabling to the sportsman is a common challenge to clinicians or physiotherapists in management. The musculoskeletal disorders, general or related to tendons, muscular, joints nerves or vascular, need a variety of management skills involving clinicians, physiotherapists and rehabilitation specialists.