Sports And Training Injuries In British Soldiers: The Colchester Garrison Sports Injury And Rehabilitation Centre

Abstract

Objectives: To record and analyse the injuries and conditions requiring referral to the Colchester Garrison Sports Injury and Rehabilitation Centre over a three year period, with special reference to type and site of injury, aetiology, and outcome.Methods: An ongoing prospective study in which data on the diagnosis, cause of injury, and treatment of all patients referred to the Centre was coded and stored on a database. A total of seventeen variables were recorded.Subjects: All patients were trained, serving soldiers in the British Army referred via their General Practitioner to the Sports Injury and Rehabilitation Centre.Results: A total of 3921 referrals were made over the three-year period. The most common specific condition seen was low back pain (22.2%) followed by sprain of the ankle (15.1%). Lower limb conditions, both overuse and traumatic, accounted for over half (55.8%) of all referrals. Military training was the most common cause of all conditions (35.2%) followed by organised or personal sport (28.5%). In addition to medical treatment and physiotherapy, 30% of patients required formal rehabilitation.Conclusions: This is the first full review of the data collected by the Sports Injury and Rehabilitation Centre. It defines the injury patterns for trained soldiers rather than military recruits. Low back pain is identified as a major cause of morbidity in this population.The review serves as a benchmark in the planning of injury prevention strategies and the establishment of future rehabilitation services. IntroductionThe concept of primary care rehabilitation began in Colchester in 1996 with the aim of providing physiotherapy and simple gymnasium based rehabilitation to injured soldiers in order to accelerate return to full fitness and reduce the incidence of re-injury. Locally known as "Bodyshop", the Colchester Garrison Sports Injury and Rehabilitation Centre expanded in 1998 with the arrival of a general practitioner with a special interest in sports and training injuries medicine.The Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Centre now encompasses the seamless progression of the injured soldier from the general practitioner, through physiotherapy, to rehabilitation and return to full fitness and duty. Staffing currently comprises two special interest general practitioners, three chartered physiotherapists and a qualified remedial therapist. A consultant orthopaedic surgeon performs an outpatient clinic approximately twice per month. All clinics, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation occur on-site and are colocated with the medical centre. In addition to the clinical activities, the centre regularly communicates with unit physical training instructors regarding individual and unit training as well as providing feedback to the command structure on unit injury rates. Patients who fail to respond to treatment are either referred for orthopaedic or rheumatology opinion, or if the condition is considered permanent, downgraded.Much work has been published on the types of injury commonly suffered by military r...

Incidence of Ankle Sprains Among Active-Duty Members of the United States Armed Services From 1998 Through 2006

“…[1][2][3][12][13][14] According to several studies, 1-3 the majority of ankle sprains documented within military personnel result from participation in organized and recreational sports, exercise, and physical training. Ankle sprains are not an isolated problem affecting US service members, as authors have documented a high rate of sportrelated, exercise-related, and physical training-related ankle sprains in British Army 3,13 and New Zealand Defense Force 2 populations. Lauder et al 1 found that ankle injuries, and ankle sprains specifically, were second only to knee injuries among hospital admissions for sportrelated and physical training-related injuries between 1989 and 1994 in the US Army.…”

“…1 Among service members, ankle sprains frequently result in time loss and persistent disability 6 and are second only to low back pain in relation to the overall percentage of rehabilitation workload. 3 Strowbridge and Burgess 3 reported that ankle sprain injuries among British Army personnel required an average of 40 days of rehabilitation. Gerber et al 6 noted persistent disability associated with ankle sprains during a prospective investigation within a cohort of cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point.…”

“…In addition to athletic injuries, the physical fitness and training-related requirements of military service increase soldiers' risk for musculoskeletal injury in general and injury to the lower extremity and ankle specifically. [1][2][3][4] Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries sustained by members of the US Armed Services and are among the leading causes of sport-related and physical training-related hospitalizations in the military. 1 In general, ankle sprains are often undertreated and result in chronic pain, muscular weakness, and chronic instability.…”

“…5 Among service members, ankle sprains frequently result in significant time loss and persistent disability and are second only to low back pain in relation to the overall percentage of the rehabilitation workload. 3,6 Despite the effect of ankle sprains on the physical and operational readiness of our military, the incidence of ankle sprains among US service members has not been examined thoroughly.…”

Role of Gymnastics in the Army School of Physical Training

“…Their results included acute and chronic injuries but showed training injuries accounted for 35.2% of referrals and sporting injuries for 28.5% of referrals; therefore, training injuries were a greater problem than sporting injuries. 9 Efforts have been made (successfully) to reduce these sporting injuries through education and simple means. 10,11 The ASPT has long had a policy of recruiting those with high fitness levels as low levels of physical fitness have been linked with increased injury rates.…”