Medical experience in the paralympic games in Rio 2016

Abstract

When paralympic means «beside» the Olympic games and the International Paralympic Committee's catchword is: «Spirit In Motion»; we wanted to report how the paralympic movement has increased during the last game. The medical team wanted therefore to present how the paralympic games in Rio were completed on their part. There were 5 sport federations united in the French team composed of 126 athletes (42 women and 84 men). They competed in 17 sports. The medical team was made up of 3 PRM doctors whose one was able to do ultrasounds and two others were sports physicians. There was also one adapted sport physician and 3 nurses. 14 Physiotherapists were split between the sports team. The medical team needed to answer all transport issues between France and Brasil depending on the impairment. They also had to bring many specific materials and organise an health space adapted to all athletes’ needs. They collected all possibly data during the games concerning each athlete. There were 35 orthopedic impairments, 48 neurologic impairments, 6 visual impairments and 5 cognitive impairments among the athletes. All athletes had a personal medical record reviewed by the physicians and all therapeutic use exemptions had been required. There was a daily medical and paramedical meeting. There was a medical room with a drugstore and a moblie ultrasonography apparatus, a physical therapy room with many specific equipment and a cryotherapy bath. There were mainly ENT and digestive illnesses, followed by skins disorders and urinary infections. Sports injuries were tendinopathy and musculoskeletal disorders (50 ultrasounds and one punction). They had to order 3 medical rapatriations due to acute psychiatric disorders. All data collected bring up in-depth discussions about injury prevention and athlete's follow-up.