Annular pulley injury of fingers is usually observed in rock climbers who support their entire body weight with flexed fingers during climbing. But these lesions can also follow trivial trauma, such as lifting heavy objects with the fingertips, or during sports and recreational activities. The A2 and A4 pulleys are most usually involved and reported most frequently. However, traumatic A1 pulley rupture has not been reported yet, to the best of our knowledge. Kendo is a very vigorous martial art with frequent physical contact. Therefore, we reported two cases of repetitive microtraumatic left fourth finger A1 pulley rupture in Kendo players with results from physical examination and imaging studies, such as ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging, together with related literature.
Athletic Injuries ; Body Weight ; Finger Injuries ; Fingers* ; Lifting ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Physical Examination ; Rupture* ; Sports ; Ultrasonography

Adult ; Groin ; injuries ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; blood ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Tendon Injuries ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Weight Lifting ; injuries

We experienced a rare case of winged scapula that was caused by the rupture of the rhomboideus major and the lower trapezius muscles without any nerve injury in a 12 yr old female after she had carried a heavy backpack. Electrodiagnostic study revealed that the onset latencies, amplitudes and conduction velocities were normal in the long thoracic nerve, the spinal accessory nerve and the dorsal scapular nerve. The needle EMG findings were normal as well. An explorative operation was performed and the rupture of the rhomboideus major and lower trapezius muscles was detected. Direct surgical repair of the ruptured muscle was carried out and the deformity was corrected. The anatomical and functional restoration was satisfactorily accomplished.
Weight Lifting/injuries ; Thoracic Nerves/*injuries ; Scapula/anatomy & histology/*physiopathology ; Rupture ; Neurons/metabolism ; Muscle, Skeletal/*injuries/innervation/*pathology ; Humans ; Female ; Electromyography/*methods ; Child

To become a national player and after becoming one, athletes usually overtrain themselves. Also they often get injured during their competition. There are many kinds of sports injuries, which are rather specific to each sport. In this study, the author analyzed the sports injuries of athletes who had visited the medical clinic in the Taereung National Training Center from January to July in 2005. There were 5 events and 7 groups of sports including men judo, men wrestling, men and women weight lifting, men and women hockey, and men gymnastics. The results showed that low back problems were the most common injury among all these sports. Besides low back problems, athletes from each sport had different patterns of injuries. Men judo players frequently had medial collateral ligament injuries of the knee. Men wrestling players commonly had neck problems. Many men and women weight lifters had wrist injuries and rotator cuff impingement, respectively, and many of them also had patellar ligament injuries. Hockey players commonly had ankle problems, and especially many women hockey players had hamstring strains. Remarkable injuries in men gymnastics were wrist and finger injuries. These results can be of help to optimize the strategies to prevent injuries and to rehabilitate the injured athletes.
Ankle ; Athletes ; Athletic Injuries* ; Collateral Ligaments ; Female ; Finger Injuries ; Gymnastics ; Hockey ; Humans ; Knee ; Korea* ; Male ; Martial Arts ; Neck ; Patellar Ligament ; Rotator Cuff ; Sports* ; Weight Lifting ; Wrestling ; Wrist ; Wrist Injuries

OBJECTIVETo investigate lifting-related musculoskeletal disorders in metal processing, to analyze the risk factors, and to study the validity and feasibility of using NIOSH lifting equation in China.

METHODSThe questionnaires of semi-structured interview, the Ovako Working Posture Analysing System (OWAS) postural analysis and variables of the NIOSH equation were applied to the study. The study population consisted of 69 workers mainly involved in manual materials handling (MMH), categorized as Job A; and 51 machinery workers, served as controls, that were less MMH task involved, as Job B.

RESULTSThe prevalence of low back pain (LBP), which was defined at least one episode lasting for more than 24 hours in the past 12 months, were 63.8% and 37.3% for Job A and Job B, respectively. However, the prevalence of LBP lasting for more than a week due to lifting were 26.09% and 5.88% for Job A and B, respectively. The proportion of awkward back postures were found higher in Job A than that of Job B (66% vs 63%, P < 0.05). The NIOSH Lifting Index (LI) was estimated to be 2.4 for Job A, and 0 < LI < 1 for Job B. The analysis of multiple regressions revealed that the repetitiveness of lifting and length of service had greatly attributed to the occurrence of LBP. The "composite load" (object weight x activity repetitiveness) had a significant adverse effect on lower back meaning that the objective weight remains an ingredient part of the risk.

CONCLUSIONThe occurrence of LBP is not only related to the force load, but the repetitiveness of lifting and awkward postures. The method of OWAS observation and US-NIOSH equation are important tools in assessing characteristics and risk factors of LBP for MMH tasks. Further study aimed at developing an integral scheme for the assessment system is needed.

Adult ; Back Injuries ; epidemiology ; etiology ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metallurgy ; Middle Aged ; Musculoskeletal Diseases ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Occupational Diseases ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Time Factors ; Weight Lifting ; injuries