Musculoskeletal Sports Injuries: From Prevention to Performance

Dear Colleagues,

Musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries in sports participants are a leading cause of time-loss, performance disruption, personal and organisational cost, and morbidity. Injuries can restrict potential, interrupt a season, end a career, or precipitate years of pain, impaired function and long-term ill health, and are relevant to people at all levels from grassroots and recreational, to high performance and elite settings.

The clinical and scientific communities that manage MSK injuries have grown more connected, bringing together physiotherapists, sports medicine physicians, surgeons, radiologists, rehabilitation specialists, and researchers into ever-closer networks. This interdisciplinary alignment, facilitated by a move towards integrated systems for health and performance, supports shared learning, holistic decision-making, and permits a greater depth of understanding by incorporating practice principles previously inaccessible to siloed professionals. Academic sports medicine has matured commensurately, becoming less fragmented by topic, discipline, and sporting context. The basic and applied research fields are increasingly holistic, mirroring the integration and clinical services, and increasingly reflect a proactive approach to injury management that incorporates a greater emphasis on prediction, prevention, evidence-based rehabilitation, and the prioritisation of whole-athlete health.

This Special Issue aims to support integrated clinical and academic practice by bringing together high-quality studies relating to the breadth of research in MSK sports injury, from prevention, prediction and classification, through to interventional management, rehabilitation, and long-term athlete health. We welcome original research, systematic and scoping reviews, methodological and consensus contributions, and structured discourse from leading organisations. We are particularly interested in work that connects disciplines, strengthens the standards on which future research depends, and gives due attention to groups under-served by the existing literature, including female, adolescent, ageing or retired athletes; athletes with disability, neurodiversity, or different health needs; and athletes participating in emerging sports.

Topics of particular interest include the following:

• Injury prevention, including screening, risk prediction and modification;
• Diagnosis, classification, and technology-enhanced practice;
• Conservative, interventional, and surgical management strategies;
• Integrated systems for health and performance;
• Long-term musculoskeletal health and sports participation;
• Athlete groups: female, adolescent, or ageing or retired, athletes, or athletes with a disability, neurodiversity, or additional needs;
• Injuries in people participating in novel, emerging, or under-represented sports, regions, or contexts;
• Research methodology, reporting standards and priority-setting in sports injury research and practice

Dr. Andrew J. Hall
Guest Editor

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