Hemophilia in Sports: A Case Report and Prophylactic Protocol.

OBJECTIVE

To describe a successful prophylactic protocol for managing an athlete with hemophilia playing at a high level of contact sports.

BACKGROUND

Published data show that team physicians are not comfortable either treating athletes with bleeding disorders or allowing them to participate in contact sports. Much of the literature historically has recommended against allowing athletes with bleeding disorders to play sports at all and certainly against playing contact sports. Hemophilia treatment can now include prophylactic injections of recombinant factor VIII to prevent bleeding episodes. Modern treatments hold the promise of allowing athletes with hemophilia to participate in contact sports.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: Mild, moderate, or severe hemophilia; von Willebrand disease; other factor deficiencies.

TREATMENT: A treatment protocol was developed that included prophylactic factor VIII injections on a regular basis and when the athlete was injured.

UNIQUENESS: This is the first published case report of an athlete with known hemophilia being successfully treated and participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association collegiate basketball for 2 full seasons.

CONCLUSIONS

Sports medicine teams can successfully manage an athlete with hemophilia playing a contact sport.