ISSN: 2638-6003
*Corresponding author:
Joel A Humphrey, Orthopedic Consultant Surgeon, London, UKReceived: December 13, 2018; Published: December 18, 2018
DOI: 10.32474/OSMOAJ.2018.02.000138
To view the Full Article Peer-reviewed Article PDF
Introduction: Real Tennis is a growing, unique and well-established sport. To date there has been no epidemiological data on Real Tennis injuries. The primary aim of this retrospective study is to record the incidence and document any trends in Real Tennis musculoskeletal injuries, so as to improve injury awareness of common and possibly preventable injuries.
Methods:A surveillance questionnaire e-mailed to 2,036 Tennis & Rackets Association members to retrospectively capture injuries sustained by amateur and professional Real Tennis players over their playing careers.
Result: 485 (438 males and 47 females) questionnaires were fully completed over 4 weeks. A total of 662 musculoskeletal injuries were recorded with a mean of 1.4 injuries per player (range 0-7). The incidence of sustaining an acute Real Tennis musculoskeletal injury is 0.4 / 1000 hours. The three main anatomical locations reported injured were elbow 15.6% (103/662), knee 11.6% (77/662) and face 10.0% (66/662)). The most common structures reported injured were muscle 24% (161/661), tendon 23.4% (155/661), ligament 7.0% (46/661), soft tissue bruising 6.5% (43/661) and eye 6.2% (41/661). The majority of the upper limb injuries were gradual onset (64.7%, 143/221) and the lower limb injuries were sudden onset (72.0%, 188/261).
Conclusion: This study uniquely provides valuable preliminary data on the incidence and patterns of musculoskeletal injuries in Real Tennis players. In addition, it highlights a number of reported eye injuries. The study is also a benchmark for future prospective studies on academy and professional Real Tennis players.
What are the New Findings?
a) Real Tennis players sustain similar injury patterns to other racket sports like lawn tennis, with chronic upper limb injuries and acute lower limb injuries
b) Real tennis players’ injury risk increases the more hours they play per week
c) Real Tennis players need to be aware they are susceptible to eye injuries
How Might it Impact on Clinical Practice in the Near Future?
a) The inaugural study on the epidemiology of musculoskeletal injuries in real tennis provides preliminary data for future research
b) The next step would be to perform prospective seasonal studies, focused on academy and professional players.
c) More accurate information on these specific player groups are invaluable to formulate injury prevention strategies.
Abstract| Introduction| Materials & Methods| Results| Discussion| Conclusion| References|
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