Purpose of the study: To date, there is a lack of data on the effectiveness and safety of surgical treatment of Th10–L2-segment fractures of the spine in patients who can be classified as professional athletes. The most frequently used methods of surgical intervention do not allow a full-fledged return to the pre-injury level of physical activity.

Materials and methods: In the described clinical case, an 18-year-old professional cyclist (height 180 cm, weight 68 kg) sustained a spinal injury during a fall from a bicycle at an international cycling competition. Immediately after the injury, he was admitted to hospital where he was diagnosed with a closed burst fracture of the first lumbar vertebral body with neurological complications and a large bony fragment causing stenosis of the spinal canal (B2N3 AO Spine). He underwent primary stabilisation surgery 10 days after the injury. However, two months after the operation, the athlete continued to have severe radicular pain syndrome in the right leg (6 points on the visual analogue scale (VAS)), right-sided monoparesis of the thigh and lower leg muscles (up to 3 points on the MRCS scale), hypoesthesia on the anterolateral surface of the right leg, and a significant decrease in quality of life (54% on the Oswestry questionnaire).

Taking into account the persisting symptoms, the patient underwent two-stage surgical treatment: extended rigid stabilisation at the first stage, and short semi-rigid stabilisation using PEEK rods at the second stage (5 months later) after the first signs of fusion.

Results: Already after the first stage of treatment there was a complete regression of pain syndrome (0 points on VAS), regression of right-sided monoparesis, significant improvement according to the Oswestry questionnaire (2%). Four months later, the second stage of surgical treatment was performed, which made it possible to maintain reliable stabilisation in the transition zone between the thoracic and lumbar spine, including dynamic loads on the fixed segment. As a result, the athlete was able to return to active training without the risk of destabilisation of the system, and at follow-up for 10 months after the second stage of surgery, the athlete did not experience any limitations in performing sport-specific loading of any intensity.

Conclusion: The proposed method of two-stage surgical treatment allowed a professional cyclist to return to the pre-injury level of physical activity six months after the second stage of surgical treatment of a complicated spinal injury. This clinical case demonstrates the effectiveness of PEEK rods in delayed fixation and active rehabilitation without restrictions.

Purpose of the study: to investigate the incidence, location and mechanism of various lower limb injuries in soccer players of a leading Russian Premier League team.

Methods: the study participants were players of the main team of a leading soccer team of the Russian Premier League (n = 43, age 23.8 ± 4.7 years, height — 182.5 ± 6.96 cm and body mass — 78.23 ± 7.8 kg), in which all time-loss injuries were recorded during three consecutive competitive seasons 2021/2022, 2022/2023 and 2023/2024. Injury data was recorded according to the International Olympic Committee consensus.

Results: 153 time-loss injuries were recorded, resulting in 2060 days of absence. During the study period, 90.7 % of the players were injured and on average, there were 3.6 ± 2.8 injuries per player during the analysed period. The most frequent injury subtypes were muscle injury (53.6 %) as well as synovitis and joint effusion (17 %). Severe and moderate injuries represented 9.8% and 29.4 % accordingly. The most frequent injuries were localised in the thigh (33.3 %) and lower leg (17.6 %). The most frequent injuries sustained by soccer players during three consecutive competitive seasons were acute non-contact muscle injury (72 cases, 47.1 %). These injuries required 9.5 ± 10.7 days for treatment, and their recurrence was recorded in three cases (4.2 %).

Conclusion: the most frequent injuries among adult professional Russian soccer players are acute non-contact muscle damage of the lower extremities. Furthermore, the number of recurrent injuries in the treatment of these injuries is significantly lower compared to their number in previously conducted studies involving adult professional soccer players.

Purpose of the study: the purpose of the study was to identify and find out the prevalence of cardiovascular pathology, as well as changes in the cardiovascular system that require monitoring and correction, in athletes of various skill levels.

Materials and methods: we evaluated athletes — Moscow national team members who were underwent an in-depth medical examination during six years (2017–2022) in the department No. 1 (Sports Medicine Clinic) of the Moscow Centre for Research and Practice in Medical Rehabilitation, Restorative and Sports Medicine.

Results: the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases among the athletes was about 6 % with no signs of rising in 6 years follow up period. We also noted changes in cardiac diseases structure during the period 2017–2022. There were 1.93 % of high sudden cardiac death risk athletes who needed a deep additional investigation; 0.07 % of athletes were not permitted to sports.

Conclusion: in-depth functional cardiovascular system assessment in athletes is very important to prevent life-threatening conditions and cases of sudden death.

Purpose of the study: to assess the state of the cardiorespiratory system of athletes after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and methods: A total of 1096 athletes (492 women and 604 men) over 15 years of age were examined in 28 sports. A clinical and instrumental assessment of the health of the athletes, a laboratory analysis by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for the genetic material of the virus and the level of IgM and IgG antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, an assessment of the functional state of the cardiorespiratory system were carried out.

Results: None of the athletes included in the study were hospitalized or had symptoms of pneumonia or cardiovascular problems. The period of self-isolation with limited self-training lasted from 2.5 to 3 months. After isolation, a decrease in the aerobic capacity of the athletes was noted. The peak oxygen consumption achieved during this period significantly decreased compared to the period before self-isolation in all types of sports disciplines.

Conclusions: Athletes are at high risk of contracting coronavirus infection and require mandatory testing for the infection before being allowed to train and compete. The main consequence of self-isolation is a decrease in the predominantly aerobic performance of athletes, regardless of whether they have had COVID-19.

Purpose of the study: In competitive sports, athletes may experience impaired mental and physical function due to experiencing a series of negative emotions. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of emotional freedom technique (EFT) on the psychological and physiological responses of competitive anxiety in elite taekwondo athletes.

Methods: This study included 29 elite male taekwondo practitioners in Tehran province who were selected by convenience sampling and randomly divided into groups of control (16 participants) and intervention (13 participants). In the pre-test (first competition), the cognitive components of competitive anxiety (cognitive anxiety, self-confidence and physical anxiety) and the physiological component of salivary cortisol of both groups were measured. The experimental group did 10 sessions of EFT training and the control group did only physical training. After the EFT intervention, the post-test (second competition) was taken. Data analysis was used in SPSS 22.

Results: After EFT intervention, the intervention group compared to control group, had a decrease in the components of cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and salivary cortisol, as well as an increase in the component of self-confidence.

Conclusion: EFT might be a useful tool for reducing the physiological and psychological anxiety of elite male taekwondo athletes. Thus it is suggested that sports psychologists and coaches use EFT to reduce the cognitive and physiological components of competitive anxiety in athletes. 

Purpose of the study:  to determine whether playtime, sedentary behavior, and physical activity contribute to the body mass index of e-sports players.

Methods. The sampling technique in this study used non-probability sampling with an accidental sampling method. The total sample in this study amounted to 386 people, who are e-sports players from Indonesia. The data analysis used Kolmogorov-Smirnov method to determine data normality, correlation test used Spearman’s rho, and ordinal regression was used to determine the contribution of independent variables related to the dependent variable.

Results. The correlation test results indicate that playtime is not significantly associated with body mass index (BMI) among e-sports players (p = 0.062). However, sedentary behavior shows a significant correlation with BMI (p = 0.018), suggesting that sedentary behavior may contribute to BMI variations. Furthermore, sedentary behavior accounts for only a small proportion of the variance in BMI, with a contribution of R² = 0.009. In contrast, physical activity does not exhibit a significant relationship with BMI (p = 0.824).

Conclusion: based on the results, there is correlation between sedentary behavior and BMI, while playtime and physical activity have no correlation to the body mass index of e-sports players.