Secondary prevention of musculoskeletal sports injuries: a scoping review of early detection and early intervention strategies.

BACKGROUND

Early detection and early intervention of musculoskeletal sports injuries is a promising, but underexplored area. Poor conceptual clarity of secondary prevention strategies currently hampers research and clinical application.

METHODS

We conducted a scoping review, aimed at summarizing secondary prevention strategies of musculoskeletal sports injuries into recommendations for researchers, athletes, and clinicians. We searched seven databases for the terms: sport, injury, and early detection/intervention.

RESULTS

Nine studies reported early detection/intervention strategies. Strength testing is a promising approach to early injury detection. We recommend caution in interpretating early imaged abnormalities due to heterogeneous findings. Observing early symptoms appears the most adopted pragmatic approach. Early rehabilitation and passive therapies seem effective as early interventions. Early load reduction is likely difficult to implement, due to performance expectations.

CONCLUSIONS

The evidence for early detection/intervention is limited. Further research into assessing early detection/intervention strategies and their use in practice, is necessary to formulate concrete recommendations.