Brazilian physiotherapy services in the 2007 Pan-American Games: Injuries, their anatomical location and physiotherapeutic procedures

Abstract 

Objective

The purpose of this study was to assess the profile of the treatments performed at the physiotherapy department of the Brazilian Olympic Committee during the 2007 Pan-American Games.

Study design

Observational study.

Participants and design

Participants in this study included 434 athletes from the Brazilian Olympic Committee who were referred by the Brazilian medical department to the Brazilian physiotherapy department. The treatment registers were done in a standard form and stored for computer analysis and descriptive statistics calculation.

Results

Most athletes of the Brazilian delegation needed physiotherapeutic treatment (n=434, 65.7%), and approximately one quarter of the athletes went to the Games with a previous injury (n=146, 22.1%). The main complaints observed during the treatments were spine-related pathologies (lumbar pain, thoracic and cervical pain) (n=89, 25.3%), tendinopathy (n=79, 22.4%), and muscle strain (n=43, 12.2%), among others. There were 2523 physiotherapeutic treatments performed, and the most utilized procedures were kinesiotherapy, which represented 24.9% (n=969) of all the procedures performed, ultrasound (n=757, 19.4%) and cryotherapy (n=670, 17.2%).

Conclusions

A large number of athletes required physiotherapy services during the Games. Approximately one quarter of the athletes were injured before the competition started. The main pathologies were spine-related injuries, tendinopathy and muscle strain. The most frequently utilized procedures were kinesiotherapy, ultrasound and cryotherapy.

Keywords: Athletic injuries, Physical therapy modalities, Sports medicine