We've reached conference season a little earlier than usual this year, kicking off with the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine (CASEM) 2023 Annual Symposium 'Back to Banff' in Alberta, from March 8th to 11th.
Banff was the conference location initially chosen to celebrate CASEM's 50th birthday in 2020. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented events from taking place that year, so 2023 marks the eventual return to Baanf for CASEM.
The pre-conference courses this year are varied and include content on para- and adaptive endurance sports medicine, sports medicine educators immersion, activity across the lifespan, and knee ultrasound.
The 2023 programme, chaired by Victor Lun, is packed with content over three days. Particular highlights to look forward to include the Lance Richard Memorial Lecture on the Evolution of Concussion Management in NHL which will be given by former CJSM Editor in Chief and Editor Emeritus, Professor Willem (Winne) Meeuwisse, and a Keynote presentation on the Athlete Experience by Paralympian Brian McKeever.
There is plenty of original research to discuss during the Sandy Kirkly Research sessions, moderated this year by Kien Trinh, and we are happy to bring you all of the CASEM abstracts for 2023 in this issue of CJSM.
In our March issue, we bring you an important, updated CASEM Position Statement on the clinician's role in addressing and preventing maltreatment in sport. The initial Position Statement on abuse, harrassment and bullying in sport was published in 2011, and although there has been progress on these issues made since then, problems remain and continue to be highlighted in several recent high-profile media reports and investigations.
The 10th Anniversary Position Statement includes information on descriptions of terminology and types of maltreatment, updates on research and practice, and recommendations for clinicians working in sport together with practical advice on what should be done in the event of a disclosure or in the event of a clinician becoming suspicious of a case of maltreatment.
Our Editorial this issue by Ralph Franks and Dominic King follows on from the publication of the AOASM Position Statement on general eSports, active video gaming and the role of the sports medicine physician last year. In this Editorial, the authors discuss whether esports and esports athletes may be considered to be 'real' sports and 'real' athletes. The debate regarding whether or not those engaged in esports and active gaming events can be considered to be 'real' sports participants continues. What is clear is that those involved in esports and active gaming do have physical and mental health needs, often engage in other 'traditional' sporting activities as well as esports and active gaming, and are increasing rapidly in number. CJSM is interested to hear your views on the debate.
Other original research article this month include topics such as the impact of scalene muscle botulinum toxin injection with and without surgery in neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, virtual pre-season SCAT5 assessments in canadian male youth football players, menstrual status and pregnancy in former elite long-distance runners with menstrual disorders, and concussion in ladies' gaelic football.
In our general review article this issue, Bäcker and Colleagues present a Systematic Review and discuss current perspectives on exertional rhabdomyolysis in athletes. Despite the fact that exertional rhabdomyolysis is a rare disease, the authors conclude that this issue is perhaps underestimated, and highlight the importance of investigating patients presenting with muscle soreness / cramps and/or dark urine after heavy endurance to avoid further complications.
Brief reports this issue include individual symptom report prevalence amongst children and adolescents reporting with one, two or three more persistent symptoms post-concussion, and the prolene hernia system repair for sports hernia surgery. We also bring you case reports on a patient-centred paradigm for managing autonomic long-COVID symptoms during sports and exercise, and bilateral ischial tuberosity stress fractures in an adolescent football player.
Don't forget to check out CJSM on Instagram as well as on our other social media outlets including Twitter and Facebook, and keep an eye on the CJSM Blog to keep up to date with what's going on in the world of Sports Medicine.
Finally, all of us at CJSM wish to express our sadness at the passing of one of our most treasured former Editorial Board Members, Professor Emeritus Roy J. Shephard at the University of Toronto, who passed on February 27th at the age of 93.
Professor Shephard led a long and distinguished career as a clinician and academic which commenced in the UK where he was born and graduated, working at Guy's Hospital, University of London, and subsequently serving with the Royal Air Force in their high altitude research unit. Later, he was appointed as Professor of Applied Physiology and Director of the Physical Fitness Research unit in Toronto and went on to become Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences and Director of the School of Physical and Health Education before moving to British Columbia later in his career.
Throughout his career, he won numerous prizes and Honorary Degrees, including Honor awards from the American College of Sports Medicine and the Canadian Association of Sports Sciences, and authored or co-authored over 1000 peer-reviewed publications and in excess of 100 books on applied physiology, public health and preventative medicine. Despite being so prolific with his work, he was always willing and generous with his time and expertise over many years.
Professor Shephard's last submission to CJSM was published in January 2022, entitled 'A Half-Century of Evidence-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Historical Review' which bears witness to his incredible longevity as an esteemed academic and contributor to the Journal.
I am sure that our readership will join all of us at CJSM in offering our condolences and best wishes to his family, friends and colleagues.
Best wishes,
Chris
Christopher Hughes MBBS MSc
Editor-in-Chief
