Between 2012 and 2017, 1,027 players from 30 different disciplines were operated upon for knee injuries at the orthopaedics department of GMCH in Chandigarh. At 475, the highest number of players were from kabaddi. They included 96 international and 86 national-level players. They are followed by football players.
CHANDIGARH – Between 2012 and 2017, 1,027 players from 30 different sports disciplines were operated upon for knee injuries at the orthopaedics department of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Sector 32, Chandigarh.
Dr Ravi Gupta, an orthopaedic surgeon and medical superintendent of the hospital, handled all these cases and has been maintaining a record book of ‘anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in multisport elite players’.
Among those operated were 122 international players, 236 national-level players, 155 from state level, 161 who participated at district-level events and the remaining 353 from village sports or those who played for recreation.
At 475, the highest number of players were from kabaddi. They included 96 international and 86 national-level players. They are followed by football players.
“ACL injury is very common among players because there is more stress on this ligament,” said Dr Gupta. “Further, it is more common among females because of the structure of the bone. But at the hospital, we come across lesser number of women with this injury, which could be because there are lesser number of them in sports.”
Ligaments are tough bands of tissue that connect the bones. There are four ligaments in a knee and two — anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) — are most important.
These ligaments connect the thigh bone with the bones of the lower leg. However, too much stress on them can cause severe injury.
Dr Gupta said the extent of injury will be more if the intensity of the force causing injury is high. Also, it is more common in sports where there is direct contact with players or involve more pivoting of the knee.
“Its immediate symptoms are pain and swelling in the knee. With time it goes but leads to instability in movement and efficiency of the knee reduces. If not operated upon, this instability can lead to another injury,” he said.
It takes at least six months for a sportsperson to recover after a surgery, said Dr Gupta. “Nearly 70% of my patients have returned to sports, with 60% playing at the same level of efficiency. Although the remaining 30% restored their normal routine but could not play again.”
Dr Gupta said there are some unavoidable factors like shape of the bone and body structure that make a person more prone to knee injury.
“However, selection of a sportsperson in a game should be according to the body structure. Also, warming up and strengthening of muscles is very important to prevent ligament tear,” he said.
The surgeon said it is the responsibility of the sports administrator to review the rules and modify acts leading to more knee injuries.
Construction process for sport injury centre set in motion
The construction process for the country’s second and northern region’s first-of-its-kind government sport injury centre has been set into motion.
The state-of-the-art centre will come up at the area of 1.4 acres next to the Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32.
The construction of boundary wall has already begun and according to project director Dr Ravi Gupta, the construction of the centre will begin within next few months.
He said the project has been approved by the UT administration and will be completed within a period of one to two years.
“It will be a centre of excellence where best treatment will be provided to the sportspersons. It will have special facilities such as sports-nutrition, sports psychology and special physiotherapists will be there to assess the functions of muscles and joints so that special treatment is provided for the enhancement of performance,” Dr Gupta said.
The hospital will be a 60-bedded facility for which, 200 staff members will be recruited. The centre will be set up at a cost of around Rs 130 crore.
“The centre will have a special research wing for sports injuries,” Dr Gupta added.
The detailed project report was prepared in 2013, but the land was approved only two-three months ago.
