| Objective: In order to prepare students for evaluation of injuries that they will frequently see in practice, we propose that athletic events such as a rugby game can be a valuable learning tool due to the high incidence of sprain/strain injuries related to a high speed sport that includes high impact contact. Design: Single group observational study. Setting: Athletic event (rugby tournament) in which the Palmer Sports Council Externs examined and evaluated injured players. Prior to the event, student externs where given two training sessions to practice O’Donoghue’s maneuver on the spine and extremity joints. Primary outcome assessment: Primary outcome was the number of positive tests in performing O’Donoghue’s maneuver in the cervical and lumbar spine along with a modified O’Donoghue’s maneuver in the extremity joints to evaluate for sprain/strain injuries. Secondary outcome was incidence rate of sprain/strain injury as it relates to player position on the team. Results: The total number of players examined was 147. The number of players injured was 53, and 63 players had positive O'Donoghue’s. Thirty-two players had positive strain/sprain exams for cervical spine, 17 for the lumbar spine and 13 for the extremities. The most frequently injured players were the flankers and props. Discussion: This study provides support that sporting events allow the opportunity to improve student skills (psychomotor and critical thinking) in evaluating sprain/strain injuries. A high number of positive tests indicate that Rugby players suffer frequent sprain/strain injuries to the cervical spine, lumbar spine and extremities during tournament play. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher. |
