Cleveland Clinic sports medicine physicians and a national expert panel have developed a first-of-its-kind Sideline Guidelines app designed to help sports medical professionals accurately address athletic injuries on the sidelines and in the training room, as well as the office. This app is available and free from the Apple store now (we hope to convert to Android format within the coming year). The comprehensive resource is currently formatted for the iPhone, and its intended for use by medical professionals treating injured athletes — including sports medicine fellows, residents, physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists and mid-level providers.
Sports injuries are quite common in high school and college sports. In the United States, there are an estimated 7.8 million high school athletes, and nearly 500,000 college athletes. There are more than 36,000 high schools in the U.S. that are cared for by physicians and athletic trainers of all levels of experience and training. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, high school athletes account for an estimated 2 million injuries, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations each year.
The origin for the educational Sidelines Guidelines app for medical professionals began several years ago. Both primary care and orthopaedic sports medicine physicians begin their respective fellowships in July and August at the height of busiest sports team coverage time. They frequently cover games at many levels — not to mention a variety of sports — by themselves. Therefore, it seemed obvious we needed to provide more than a crash course — an entire reference guide. In 2012 and 2013, I led a crash course at Vanderbilt for our sports medicine team. When I moved to Cleveland Clinic, we initiated a national course in August 2014, featuring an expert panel of experienced team physicians. It was attended by more than 130 medical professionals, ranging from physicians to athletic trainers, physical therapist and mid-level providers. They suggested an app. The Cleveland Clinic team recognized the widespread appeal on a national level, and over the last year, we created the Sideline Guidelines app.
The app has compiled a summary of medical information to provide medical professionals guidelines in diagnosing injuries, assessing an individual athlete’s post-injury ability, making return-to-play decisions and planning training schedules. The searchable format allows providers — on the sidelines or in the training room — to quickly access key points to assist in making an informed medical decision. The app covers the most common medical emergencies and conditions impacting sports participants, and runs the gamut of orthopaedic injuries from head to toe.
I was fortunate to have a multi-disciplinary team of nationally renowned physicians and sports medicine experts from specialties outside of orthopaedics that involve sports injuries in the development of the app. Sideline Guidelines was created by myself, along with a comprehensive team of experts from Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. These experts include cardiovascular; neurology and neurosurgery; abdominal/gastrointestinal; dermatology; dental; ear, nose and throat; and emergency medicine practitioners. In addition, specialists from The Ohio State University, Vanderbilt University, The University of Iowa, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Connecticut and Allegheny Medical Center helped compile the database of clinical information used in the development of the app.
At the Sideline Guideline course in August 2015, we introduced the app to more than 100 participants, and we learned many insights into how the app could aid medical professions caring for sports injuries. I believe this app is a game-changer for medical professionals and athletes. Never before have we had this information at our fingertips via the phone app to help diagnose and treat athletes. Gary Calabrese, director of rehabilitation and sports therapy at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health, adds: “With this app, medical professionals will be better equipped to assess a situation by using the app as a decision-making guide.”
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How a New App Helps Treat High School Athletes originally appeared on usnews.com
