With the sport's soaring popularity, arthritis researchers work to develop a prevention program for Lower Mainland teams.

Canada's growing obsession with soccer is both welcome and worrisome, B.C. arthritis experts say, since knee injuries are the most common type incurred in the sport and a single knee trauma sustained in youth under 18 triples the chance of getting osteoarthritis later in life.

Nearly a million Canadians (120,000 in B.C.) play organized soccer and scientists at the Vancouver-based Arthritis Research Centre of Canada (ARC), who are collabo­rating with Boston researchers on new injury prevention programs, say about 25 per cent of all knee injuries sustained in soccer play could be prevented if coaches and trainers did such things as ensuring athletes warmed up and did proper power and agility conditioning.

Warming up increases blood flow and oxygen to the muscles so they work better. It also increases nerve impulse speed and boosts the range of motion at the joints to reduce muscle and ligament tears.

Experts say medical attention and rehabilitation after injury is also crucial to preventing osteoarthritis which affects one out of every 10 Canadians.

Participation in organized soccer is said to be growing across North America by double digit amounts annually. But trends also show nearly half of all soccer injuries occur in kids under 15, with girls suffering more than boys and knee injuries accounting for 25 per cent of all injuries.

Since prevention programs would reduce the pain and disability associated with osteoarthritis, researchers tested an injury prevention program in Vancouver soccer players last season that they hope to extend to players across the Lower Mainland.

Dr. John Esdaile, scientific director of ARC and principal investigator of the project, was unavailable for an interview, but in a written statement said: 

Soccer is great exercise and, given the rising incidence of obesity in Canada, we want to encourage the type of physical activity among our youth that is both fun and will help them maintain a healthy body weight. But we want to be sure that the physical activity itself won't lead to osteoarthritis.
--Dr. John Esdaile, ARC Scientific Director

Co-researcher Dr. Jolanda Cibere said in an interview that while field conditions (flat surfaces and no potholes) would help prevent mishaps, proper physical training is imperative.

In the pilot project funded by a $100,000 grant from the federal government-sponsored Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Cibere and 10 co-researchers involved about 25 youth soccer clubs in Vancouver in warm-up exercises targeting muscle groups in the quadriceps and hamstrings to help prevent injuries in the anterior cruciate ligaments.

Physical therapists taught the coaches and clubs specific stretching and agility exercises and players who were injured were not allowed to play until they were healed completely.

Under the pilot study protocols, serious knee injuries got prompt medical attention, including MRI imaging, and a referral to an orthopedic surgeon at B.C. Children's Hospital, Cibere said.

In the pilot, there were three serious knee injuries in a few hundred players over the course of nine weeks.

Cibere said her group at ARC is now applying for a five-year, multi-million-dollar grant from CIHR to use the same approach in up to 10,000 young soccer players on teams all across the Lower Mainland. The study will be randomized and controlled so researchers can determine if the injury rate is reduced in players who follow the program to the letter compared to others who maintain the status quo.

"The pilot project was meant to develop and test whether it was feasible to use an injury prevention program on a grand scale. We're waiting to hear about funding," she said.

Dr. Matthew Liang, a Boston rheumatologist involved in the research, said osteoarthritis is a major public health problem and there is evidence that knee injuries lead to degenerative changes. He said coaches need to be made more aware of preventable injuries.

"I was a soccer dad for three of my kids and I can tell you that never did we do sweeps of the fields before playing to clear away potential hazards. [Volunteer] coaches are often inexperienced parents," said Liang.

Dr. Cy Frank, a scientific director at CIHR, said in an interview from Ottawa that while there will always be some injuries associated with sports, " we need to employ the same kind of rigorous training and coaching techniques that college and professional teams use."

Sun Health Issues Reporter This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Copyright The Vancouver Sun, Posted With Permission