The impact of wrist fractures on long-term basketball performance

Review written by Dr Ian Gatt info

Key Points

  1. Various performance metrics are unchanged when returning NBA players post injury, however, win shares (WS) are significantly decreased.
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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

Basketball is a popular sport especially in the United States. To date, much of the current literature regarding basketball pathology has focused on injury and return to play in the lower extremity (1-5). More recently, the upper extremity has been explored in relation to hand injuries (6-7). Additionally, other sports, such as football, baseball, and soccer, have all attempted to categorize the long-term performance of athletes following specific wrist injuries (8-10). However, information for basketball athletes is lacking.

The aim of this study was to present the impact of wrist joint fractures on long-term performance through the analysis of NBA players. It was hypothesised that players’ performance would significantly decline following injury, and players who required operative management would suffer a greater decline than those treated conservatively.

To date much of the current literature regarding basketball pathology has focused on injury and return to play in the lower extremity.
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Even if players are likely to not return to their pre-injury maximum performance levels, some athletes are still able to contribute positively.

METHODS

Using a publicly free available database, a search for NBA players sustaining a fracture of one or more wrist joint bones (i.e. distal radius, distal ulna, carpal bones) from 2002 to 2016 was undertaken. Inclusion criteria encompassed all players who

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