Knee injuries can be severe enough to sideline even the most well-trained athletes and women athletes seem especially prone to a type of noncontact knee injury caused by sudden stops, turns, or jumps.  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has just published a study that may eliminate some of those injuries.  The trick to doing so is a special warm-up program that requires no special equipment or additional time.

The CDC study examined the benefits of the Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance (PEP) program as developed by the Santa Monica Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation in Santa Monica, California.  PEP addresses the vulnerability of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and employs moves that stretch and strengthen the ACL as well as hone athletic agility in a sport-specific way.  Female soccer players are at particular risk for ACL injuries that can be severe enough to end athletic careers.

To test the PEP program, the CDC enlisted all 1,435 players on the 61 women’s soccer teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division 1 for an entire playing season.  The teams were divided into two groups – one control group that made no changes to its warm-up routines and 26 teams, randomly selected, as the test group, which incorporated the PEP program into its warm-up routines.

Some findings considered significant include:

• The PEP-training group reported no ACL injuries in practice sessions throughout the entire season but the control group reported six of them.
• Of players in the PEP group who had a known history of ACL injuries, no noncontact ACL injuries were reported but four such injuries were reported in the control group.
• During the last half of the season, the PEP athletes sustained no ACL injuries but there were five ACL injuries reported in the control group.

Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, director of the Santa Monica research foundation, says the PEP program was designed to specifically address the danger of serious knee injury and the consequences this type of injury has on the life and career of the athlete.

The CDC study was funded by the Santa Monica Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation, as well as the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the International Federation of Football Associations, and the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine.  Full details of the study can be viewed online in this week’s issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine.

Source: CDC