Description
This presentation by Jennifer Fletcher focuses on the critical topic of Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury prevention, particularly within adolescent athletes. She expresses gratitude to the committee for the opportunity to speak, establishing a professional tone while outlining her lack of disclosures. The objectives of her talk include an overview of epidemiology related to adolescent sports injuries, consequences associated with ACL injuries, risk factors, and a review of existing injury prevention programs.
In the introductory segment, Fletcher highlights epidemiological data, indicating high participation rates in physical activities among Canadian adolescents and their associated injury patterns — a staggering 66% of injuries in youth are tied to sports, with a significant portion affecting the lower extremities. She emphasizes that ACL injuries are particularly prevalent, with females at five times the risk compared to males.
Fletcher continues by elaborating on the consequences of ACL injuries, including potential long-term impacts such as osteoarthritis and the significant economic burden, citing costs of upwards of $17,000 per injury for surgery and rehabilitation. The discussion progresses to contextualize the modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors contributing to ACL injuries, detailing how understanding these can inform prevention strategies.
A substantial portion of the talk highlights existing literature on ACL injury prevention programs, demonstrating a notable decrease in injury rates when such programs are effectively implemented. She reviews several well-known programs, including Cincinnati Sports Medicine's Sports Metric program, Dr. Mandelbaum's PEP program, the KIPP program, and the 11+ program, detailing their structure, benefits, and accessibility.
Fletcher stresses the need for widespread adoption of these programs, emphasizing the importance of compliance, local advocacy, and endorsement from sport governing bodies. She concludes by summarizing the pressing nature of adolescent athletic injuries as public health concerns and reaffirms that the implementation of neuromuscular training programs is a viable and cost-effective injury prevention strategy, calling for collective action from coaches, parents, and sports organizations to enhance safety and performance in youth sports.