Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Dec 18, 2015; 6(11): 850-863
Published online Dec 18, 2015. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v6.i11.850
Fractures in sport: Optimising their management and outcome
Greg AJ Robertson, Alexander M Wood
Greg AJ Robertson, Edinburgh Orthopaedic Trauma Unit, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland EH16 4SA, United Kingdom
Alexander M Wood, Orthopaedic Department, Borders General Hospital, Roxburghshire, Scotland TD6 9BS, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Robertson GAJ and Wood AM conceived the issues which formed the content of the manuscript and wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Greg AJ Robertson, MBChB, BMedSci (Hons), MSc, MRCSEd, Edinburgh Orthopaedic Trauma Unit, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, 51 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh, Scotland EH16 4SA, United Kingdom. greg_robertson@live.co.uk
Telephone: +44-131-2423545 Fax: +44-131-2423541
Received: May 28, 2015
Peer-review started: June 1, 2015
First decision: July 10, 2015
Revised: September 4, 2015
Accepted: October 1, 2015
Article in press: October 8, 2015
Published online: December 18, 2015
Abstract

Fractures in sport are a specialised cohort of fracture injuries, occurring in a high functioning population, in which the goals are rapid restoration of function and return to play with the minimal symptom profile possible. While the general principles of fracture management, namely accurate fracture reduction, appropriate immobilisation and timely rehabilitation, guide the treatment of these injuries, management of fractures in athletic populations can differ significantly from those in the general population, due to the need to facilitate a rapid return to high demand activities. However, despite fractures comprising up to 10% of all of sporting injuries, dedicated research into the management and outcome of sport-related fractures is limited. In order to assess the optimal methods of treating such injuries, and so allow optimisation of their outcome, the evidence for the management of each specific sport-related fracture type requires assessment and analysis. We present and review the current evidence directing management of fractures in athletes with an aim to promote valid innovative methods and optimise the outcome of such injuries. From this, key recommendations are provided for the management of the common fracture types seen in the athlete. Six case reports are also presented to illustrate the management planning and application of sport-focussed fracture management in the clinical setting.

Keywords: Fractures, Sport, Management, Optimisation, Outcome

Core tip: This is an editorial article, on the topic of optimising the management and outcome of sport-related fractures, providing an informed commentary on the current management of acute fractures in the athlete with an aim to try optimise their outcome. The article begins with a brief overview of the topic, which is followed by a discussion on the management strategies and associated outcomes of the common fracture patterns seen in sporting populations. The published evidence relevant to this is also discussed. The authors then present a series of case reports to illustrate the management of such injuries in the clinical setting.