The study revealed that risk of ankle and knee ligament injuries is high in adolescent floorball, specifically among female players.

The purpose of this study was to investigate LE muscular strength variables as potential risk factors for all and non‐contact acute knee and ACL injuries in young athletes. A total of 188 young (≤21) male and 174 female basketball and floorball players participated in LE muscular strength tests and were followed up to 3 years. The strength test battery consisted of 1RM leg press, maximal concentric isokinetic (60°/s) quadriceps and hamstrings, and maximal isometric hip abductor strength. The outcomes were a new acute knee or ACL injury and a new acute non‐contact knee or ACL injury. A total of 51 (17 in males and 34 in females) new acute knee injuries registered and 17 (one in males and 16 in females) of these were ACL injuries. In the adjusted Cox regression models, only lower maximal hip abduction strength (kg/kg) was significantly associated with an increased risk of all knee injuries in males (HR 1.80 [95% CI, 1.03‐3.16] for 1 SD decrease in hip abduction). However, ROC curve analysis showed an area under the curve 0.66 revealing that maximal hip abduction strength test cannot be used as a screening tool for an acute knee injury in young male athletes.

Background: The identification of risk factors for sports injuries is essential before injury prevention strategies can be planned. Hypothesis: Previous acute knee injury and lower perceived knee function measured by Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) will increase the risk of acute knee injury in youth team-sports athletes. Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Level of Evidence: Level 3. Methods: At baseline, youth (≤21 years old) male and female basketball and floorball athletes completed a questionnaire on previous acute knee injuries and perceived knee function (KOOS). A total of 211 male and 183 female athletes were followed for an acute knee injury up to 3 years. Unadjusted and adjusted Cox regression models were used in risk factor analyses. Results: In male athletes, previous acute knee injury and lower KOOS Pain, Activities of Daily Living, Sport and Recreation, and knee-related Quality of Life subscale scores increased the risk of acute knee injury in the unadjusted analyses. Adjusted analyses for male injuries were not performed because of low number of acute knee injuries (n = 18). In female athletes, previous acute knee injury increased the risk of acute knee injury when adjusted for athletes’ age and body mass index (hazard ratio, 2.6 [95% CI, 1.3-5.2]). In female athletes, none of the KOOS subscale scores were associated with the increased risk of acute knee injury in the adjusted analyses. Conclusion: Previous acute knee injury was associated with the risk of new acute knee injury in youth male and female athletes. In youth male athletes, additionally, lower perceived knee function in 4 out of 5 KOOS subscale scores were associated with the increased risk of new acute knee injury. Clinical Relevance: The treatment and rehabilitation of the present acute knee injury and secondary prevention of reinjury should be emphasized in youth team-sports athletes.

Wounds close by keratinocytes migrating from the edge of the wound and re‐epithelializing the epidermis. It has been proposed that the major stimuli for wound closure are blood‐derived growth factors, chemokines and cytokines. The small GTPase R‐Ras, a known integrin activator, also regulates vascular permeability during angiogenesis, and blood vessels lacking R‐Ras leak plasma proteins constantly. We explored whether the access to blood‐derived proteins influences skin wound healing in R‐Ras knockout (KO) mice. In skin wounds, R‐Ras expression was mostly restricted to the vasculature in the granulation tissue. Angiogenic blood vessels in the R‐Ras KO mice were significantly more permeable than in wild‐type (WT) controls. Although the distances between epidermal tongues, and the panniculus carnosus muscles, were significantly longer in R‐Ras KO than WT controls before the granulation tissue formation took place, there were no differences in the wound closure or re‐epithelialization rates or granulation tissue formation. These findings were also corroborated in a special splint excision wound model. Our study shows that although R‐Ras does not influence the skin wound healing itself, the blood vessels lacking R‐Ras are leaky and thus could facilitate the access of blood‐derived proteins to the wound.

BackgroundFloorball is a popular team sport in Finland. Previous studies have revealed that injuries are a significant problem in adult floorball. However, epidemiological studies of injuries in youth floorball are lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, type, and severity of injuries in young floorball players.MethodsOne-hundred-fifty-six female (n = 57) and male players (n = 99) (mean age 17.1 ± 1.6 years) from nine floorball teams participated in the study. Injury data as well as practice and game exposures were collected over the 12-months period (from May 2013 to April 2014). An injury was defined as having occurred in an organised floorball practice or game, and having resulted in the inability to participate in floorball training or playing for one or more days. Severity of injury was measured by number of days lost from floorball training and playing.ResultsThe players reported a total of 136 injuries, of which 63% were traumatic and 37% were from overuse. The overall incidence of injuries in female and male players per 1000 practice and game hours was 4.5 (95% CI: 3.48 to 5.79) and 3.0 (95% CI: 2.41 to 3.76), respectively. Incidence of traumatic game-related injuries in females was 45.1 per 1000 game hours (95% CI: 30.98 to 65.67), and 19.9 (95% CI: 12.87 to 30.65) in males. The majority (76%) of injuries occurred in the lower extremity, and the most commonly injured body part was the ankle (24%), followed by the knee (23%) and the lower back (13%). Thirty-three percentages of all injuries resulted in less than 1 week time-loss, 30% in 1 to 4 weeks time-loss, and 37% in more than 4 weeks time-loss from sports. Thirty-one players had over 8-week absence from training due to a severe injury.ConclusionsThe injury risk in youth floorball is high. The lower limb is the most commonly injured body area. Rather many of the injuries are severe resulting in long-term absence from sports.