FQ1: How are sports injuries classified and managed

Question 1

What is a direct injury?

Answer 1

An injury sustained at the site of external force.

e.g. bruised leg from a cricket ball or black eye from being punched during a boxing match

Question 2

What is an indirect injury?

Answer 2

An injury sustained from an internal source. (often generated by muscles)
e.g. dislocated shoulder after falling on your arm, rolling you rankle causing a sprain

Question 3

What is a soft tissue injury?

Answer 3

Soft tissue includes muscles, ligaments, tendons, skin, organs etc.
e.g. a sprained ankle is an indirect, soft tissue injury

Question 4

What is a hard tissue injury?

Answer 4

Injuries to the bones and teeth, which include breaks and dislocations.
e.g. dislocated shoulder form a rugby tackle is a direct hard tissue injury.

Question 5

What are overuse injuries?

Answer 5

Caused by repetitive action and are long term injuries that develop over time. Grows from small injuries that cause a build up of scar tissue that weakens that area of the body allowing for a worse injury to occur.
e.g. tendonitis (soft tissue), stress fractures (hard tissue)

Question 6

What is a tear?

Answer 6

Tears or strains are soft tissue injuries that occur when a muscle or tendon is over-stretched or torn.
e.g. pulled hamstring

Question 7

What is a sprain?

Answer 7

Sprains are soft tissue injuries that occur when when a joint is forced beyond its range of motion which results in a stretch or tear in a ligament.
e.g. rolled ankle in netball or torn ACL in touch football

Question 8

What is a contusion?

Answer 8

Contusions are soft tissue injuries caused by intrinsic or extrinsic forces that result in capillaries rupturing causing internal bleeding (bruise)

Question 9

What is a skin abrasion?

Answer 9

A soft tissue injury caused by the scraping or wearing away of the skin. These are treated by cleaning the graze with disinfectant and covering it with a bandage.
e.g. falling over in netball and grazing your knee

Question 10

What is a laceration?

Answer 10

A deep cut or tear to the skin of resulting contact from a sharp device. Deep or large lacerations may need stitches and medical attention.
e.g. a diver hitting their head on the diving board, ice hockey player gets hit in the head by stick.

Question 11

What is a blister?

Answer 11

Caused by friction or burning that leads to a build up of fluid beneath the skin. An athlete should not pop the blister and rather but a blister bandaid on it and let it heal.
e.g. runners get blisters on their heals from friction in their shoes.

Question 12

What is the inflammatory response?

Answer 12

The bodies natural response to injury, there are three phases of the inflammatory response:

1. acute inflammation
2. repair inflammation
3. remodelling inflammation

Question 13

Outline phase one of the inflammatory response

Answer 13

The acute inflammatory response: Involves the widening of the blood vessels in order transfer fluid into surrounding tissue. Swelling is large in this stage as the new blood vessels begin to develop. This stage lasts for 48-72 hours and RICER is important during this phase.

Question 14

Outline phase two of the inflammatory response

Answer 14

The repair phase: the body begins to fix the damaged or injured sight. The white blood cells clean up the debris from the injury and new body tissue begins to form (scar tissue) This phase lasts from 3 days to up to 6 weeks.

Question 15

Outline phase three of the inflammatory response

Answer 15

The remodelling phase: More scar tissue is produced along with new functional body tissue which is strengthened in order to replace the scar tissue for recovery. Thsi phase can last for numerous months depending on the severity of the injury.

Question 16

How is RICER used to manage soft tissue injuries?

Answer 16

RICER = rest, ice, compression, elevation, referral.

rest: helps prevent further injury from occurring.
ice: ice should be applied as soon as possible to reduce pain, swelling and inflammation which will speed up recovery time.
compression: Helps reduce inflammation through forcing fluids away from the injured area and stabilises the joint (if injured). Thsi involved the application of compression bandages around the injured area.
elevation: must be elevated above the heart to allow gravity to assist the removal of fluid from inflammation.
referral: an athlete should refer to a medical professional to receive a proper diagnosis and rehabilitation to be applied if needed. They can also provide medication to reduce swelling and pain.

Question 17

What is a fracture?

Answer 17

A broken bone. There are three classification of fractures:

closed fracture: does not pierce the skin and remain inside.

open fracture: bone pierces the skin and can be seen. (also known as compound fractures as there are more than one issue that needs to be addressed)

complicated fracture: When the fracture causes further damage to nerves, blood vessels or major organs which can be life threatening.

Question 18

What are the three different types of fractures?

Answer 18

1. Complete fracture: breaks clean through the bone so there are now two parts.
2. Comminuted fracture: results in more than two parts of the bone.
3. Incomplete fracture: the bone does not have a clean break but still contains a break in it.

Question 19

signs and symptoms of a fracture include:

Answer 19

• hearing or feeling the break
• pain
• redness
• deformity
• protruding bone

Question 20

what is the management of fractures?

Answer 20

• DRSABCD
• control bleeding
• cover wounds
• ensure casualty remains still
• check for any other injuries
• immobilise fracture
• seek medical attention

Question 21

What is a dislocation?

Answer 21

An abnormal separation in a joint between two bones. A dislocation is often caused by excessive force form direct or indirect forces.

signs and symptoms of a dislocation are:

• pain at the joint
• swelling around the joint
• bruising around the joint
• inability to move the joint properly

Question 22

What is the management of a dislocation?

Answer 22

• DRSABCD
• do not move the joint
• check for circulation past the joint
• support the area
• seek medical attention
• do not attempt to relocate any dislocations

Question 23

What are the three procedures used to assess injuries?

Answer 23

• DRSABCD (danger, response, send for help, airways, breathing, CPR, defibrillation)
• STOP (on field assessment) stop the player from playing, talk to them to determine what happened and where it hurts, observe the injury the to prevent further injury remove the player from the field for further assessment if required.
• TOTAPS

Question 24

What does TOTAPS stand for?

Answer 24

Talk: talk to the athlete to gather as much information about the injury as possible e.g. where does it hurt?, did you hear a snap or crack?, is the pain dull or sharp?

Observe: observe the athletes injury to see if there is an abnormal amount of swelling. Compare the limb to the other side of the body to identify abnormalities.

Touch: touch the athlete to see where the site of pain begins in their injury whilst also feeling an abnormalities or swelling.

Active Movement: Ask the casualty to move the injured area to see their range of movement and how painful moving the injury is.

Passive Movement: Where you moved the injured area for the injured athlete. If there is no pain when pulling or pushing around the joint then the next step applies but if the athlete does experience pain or a lack of movement first aid need to be applied and they should seek medical attention immediately.

Skills Test: If the athlete makes it to this point of TOTAPS then the injury is likely to be minor. These skills tests are specific to the sport and are to review if the player can return to play.

If an athlete is experiencing immense pain or immobility during any of these steps proceed with first aid and immediate medical attention.