Cynthia LaBella, MD and colleagues show that a warm-up program can prevent ACL injuries

 

Cynthia LaBella       A research team led by Cynthia LaBella, MD (left) implemented a program in Chicago public high schools that sought to determine the effectiveness of coach-led neuromuscular warm-up to reduce lower extremity injuries in female athletes. The results, published in the November 2011 issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine show that athletes whose coaches learned the techniques had a 38 percent reduction in ankle sprains, a 30 percent reduction in knee sprains and a 20 percent reduction in ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries.  

The Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported on the results. 

LaBella is Associate professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; medical director of the Institute for Sports Medicine at Children’s Memorial Hospital; and a member of the Mary Ann and J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research Program of Children’s Memorial Research Center. Co-authors on the publication were Michael R. Huxford, MEd, ATC; Joe Grissom, MPP; Kwang-Youn Kim, PhD; Jie Peng, MS; and Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, MD, MPH.