Return-to-Play Criteria Following Sports Injury

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csm.2009.09.008Get rights and content

Section snippets

Establishing guidelines

No single formula can serve as an RTP guideline for all conditions. One procedure that would assist in establishing RTP guidelines would be to set up such guidelines in advance and share them with the coaches, athletes, parents, and all other stakeholders.2 While specifics may not be included, informing others of who makes the decisions, under what circumstances, and how the safety of the athletes takes priority can alleviate impromptu decisions and unrealistic, unsafe expectations. Confusing

Athlete's behavioral responses

As with all people, athletes present different behaviors under different circumstances. These behaviors can be described, though not formally classified, in terms of the athlete's response to injury and reaction to the RTP decision. It is common for an athlete to lose emotional control. These athletes tend to direct much of their emotion toward the injury itself. They may tend to showboat the circumstances in an effort to gauge a reaction from a crowd. It can be very hard to perform an

RTP-testing procedures

The basic RTP criteria for musculoskeletal and all other injuries should be shared at the beginning of a season with the coaches, players, administration, and parents. This is establishes the RTP rules and remind the stakeholders that it is the injury that prevents participation, not the medical provider. RTP guidelines should also be shared when an injury occurs.

RTP considerations for musculoskeletal injuries should establish an athlete's available range of motion (active and passive), muscle

Recreational and Organized Youth Level

In most situations, there will be no medical personnel at practices or games, unless it is a parent of an athlete. It is likely that an medically unqualified coach will make the RTP decisions based solely on their philosophy.

High School Level

There may or may not be an athletic trainer available. The presence of a certified athletic trainer assists tremendously in the RTP decision he or she will probably know the athlete well and objectively and fairly assess readiness to return.

Under unique circumstances, an

Intangible factors for RTP decision making

Additional factors come into play for when making an RTP decision for an athlete. These include, but are not limited to

  • An athlete's willingness to return. This is a motivational factor that can be influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. This can be assessed through a conversation with the athlete in an effort to gauge their level of interest. Time of the season, number of games remaining, fear of failure, fear of further injury, and closeness of a game or competitive season may all

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Chris Gonzales, athletic training graduate student, from California Baptist College on Research.

First page preview

First page preview
Click to open first page preview

References (3)

  • Jim Clover

    Sports medicine essentials: core concepts in athletic training and fitness instruction

    (2007)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

View full text