Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center

Intoduction

Thor Einar Andersen will defend his PhD-dissertation: "How do football injuries occur? - Video analysis of injury situations and mechanisms in elite football" for the degree dr. med. at the University of Oslo on Friday the 18th of March, 2005. The introductory lecture is titled "NSAIDs and sports injuries: An evidence-based assessment of the indications, the effects and the side effects" and will be held at the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences on the 17th.

Thor Einar Andersen was born on the 13th of January in 1960 and was raised in Kristiansand, Norway. He is educated as medical doctor at the University of Oslo. Before studying mediciine he took a physiotherapy degree in Berlin, Germany. Thor Einar is a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, working at the Norwegian Institute of Sports Medicine (NIMI). He is also authorized sports physician and since 2002 he is teamphysician for the Norwegian national mens team in football.

Thor Einar started his PhD period at the Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education in 2000. Professor dr. med. Roald Bahr at the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, the Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education has been his main supervisor. The aims of this thesis were to achieve a better understanding of the injury mechanisms and events leading up to high-risk situations.

The thesis is based on five separate studies, all of them published. FIA describes incidents, where the match was interrupted due to an assumed injury, using nineteen variables and categories. The first study shows that FIA is a reliable tool to analyse and describe video recordings of incidents and injuries in football-specific terms. In the second study, videotapes and injury information were collected prospectively from nearly all regular Norwegian professional league matches during one season. Incidents were analysed using FIA. Although most of the incidents and injuries seen on video resulted from duels, no single classic playing situation typical for football injuries or incidents could be identified. In the third study we sought to assess how violations of the Laws of the Game contribute to injury and whether the decisions made by referees in high risk situations correctly interpret the rules of football by comparing the match referee decision with an independent video review by an expert referee panel. Less than one third of the injuries identified on video resulted in a free kick being awarded by the referee, but the agreement between decisions made by the match referee and the referee panel was good. This means that the referees were doing their job, and that it may be necessary to review the Laws of the Game to protect players from injury. Finally, we wanted to describe the specific injury mechanisms for ankle and head injuries in elite football by reviewing video tapes of incidents. Two mechanisms specific to football were found for ankle injuries:

1) player-to-player contact with impact by an opponent on the medial aspect of the leg just before or at foot strike, resulting in a laterally directed force causing the player to land with the ankle in a vulnerable, inverted position, and

2) forced plantar flexion where the injured player hit the opponents foot when attempting to shoot or clear the ball. An analysis of head injury incidents revealed that the body part that hit the injured players head was the elbow/arm/hand in nearly half and the head in one third of the incidents.

Based on the studies of ankle and head injury mechanisms, it is suggested that stricter rules are considered for late tackles and high elbow use during heading duels to prevent injuries.

Commitee:

1. opponent: Professor med. dr. Jan Ekstrand, Institute of Health and Society, Linköping University, Sweden

2. opponent: dr. med. Torbjørn Grøntvedt, Institute for Neuromedicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

3.  member of the comity: Professor dr. philos. Inger Holm, Department for Health Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway

Leader: Professor dr. med. Erik Bautz-Holter, Faculty division Ullevål University Hospital, University of Oslo

Introductory lecture:

Thursday 17. mars, kl. 15.15

"NSAIDs and sports injuries. An evidence-based assessment of indications, effects and side effects"

PhD-defence:

Friday 18. mars, kl. 10.15

"How do football injuries occur? - Video analysis of injury situations and mechanisms in elite football"