Evaluation of recurrent soft tissue injuries of shoulder after physiotherapy treatment in athletes

Abstract

Traumatic injuries to the soft tissues of the shoulder are a common cause of shoulder pain and dysfunction in athletes. These injuries have a serious impact on the athlete's work capacity and quality of life, which often causes athletes to withdraw from training and competition. Taking into account modern requirements, a long break in sports activities is almost impossible, because in the majority of cases, the last mentioned is equivalent to the end of the professional career. It should be noted that after conservative treatment of soft tissue injuries of the shoulder (tendinitis of the long head of the biceps muscle, partial damage to the structures of the rotator cuff, glenoid labrum) repeated injuries and relapses often occur, which makes it even more difficult to fully restore the athlete's shoulder function and the athlete's withdrawal from the training process is longer. The purpose of the study is to find the incidence of repeated injuries and pain recurrences in athletes after physical therapy treatment of shoulder soft tissue injuries. The present study involves a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the emergence of pain reactivity after physical therapy treatment of soft tissue injuries of the shoulder in athletes, 8 and 12 weeks after the athletes' return to normal activity. Monitoring was carried out on 52 athletes at the Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinical Center of TSMU. The average age of the athletes was 23 ± 2 years. Athletes participating in the study were randomly divided into three groups: I main, II and III control groups and appropriate rehabilitation interventions were implemented. In all three groups of patients participating in the study, after 8 and 12 weeks, the occurrence of shoulder function limitation and pain were studied using the PSS (The Penn Shoulder Score), SSPS (Subjective Sport Performance Satisfaction) and the Kerlan-Jobe Shoulder and Elbow Clinical Orthopedic Clinical Scales. Based on the data obtained from the study, 8 weeks after the start of sports activity of 52 athletes, cases of early repeated injuries were detected in 35 percent of athletes, and after 12 weeks, cases of late repeated injuries were observed in 25 percent of the remaining 34 athletes. 8 weeks after the start of sports activity in 52 athletes, 18 cases of recurrent early injury were noted, in the remaining 34 athletes, after 12 weeks, recurrent late injuries were identified in 8 athletes. The study includes evaluation and comparative analysis of repeated injuries in groups I-II and I-III after 8 and 12 weeks of participation in sports activities by means of the specified scales. The study revealed that treatment with combined physical agents significantly reduced the incidence of repetitive injuries in athletes and also demonstrated a significantly lower recurrence rate of emerging pain, thereby optimizing the athlete's performance.