Abstract
Foot injuries represent a small but important proportion of injuries to professional rugby union players. There are no detailed epidemiological studies regarding these injuries. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of foot injuries sustained by a cohort of professional rugby union players and identify areas that may be targeted for injury prevention in the future. Medical personnel prospectively recorded injuries in professional Premiership rugby union players in England over four seasons. Injuries to the foot were identified and the time away from training and playing was reported. A total of 147 foot injuries were sustained resulting in 3542 days of absence in total. Acute events accounted for 73% of all foot injuries, with chronic, mostly overuse conditions, accounting for 25% (undiagnosed 2%). Chronic conditions led to proportionately more time away from training and playing (p=<0.001). Specifically, stress fractures in the foot accounted for 8% of the total foot injuries but 22% of the absence. Navicular stress fractures had the longest recovery time with the mean return to training and match play of 188 days. In collision sports such as rugby, some injuries may be inevitable but clinicians should always be seeking ways to minimise their occurrence and impact. This study revealed a high proportion of morbidity associated with chronic and overuse foot injuries in these professional athletes. With greater attention paid to risk factors, some of these injuries, and importantly, recurrent injuries may be avoided.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.