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Background
After a sports injury, the first question asked by most athletes (and coaches) is: 'When will I (the athlete) be able to compete again?' The answer to this question is rarely straightforward and is influenced by many factors. However, in most cases the goals of the injured athlete and the treating clinician (plus other stakeholders in the decision-making team, such as coaches, parents and managers) are the same-to facilitate a timely and safe return to sport (RTS).
The Swiss Sport Physiotherapy Association along with the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy and the BJSM hosted the first international RTS congress in Bern, Switzerland (20-21 November 2015). The aim of the congress was to present current evidence and guidelines in areas where sports medicine clinicians (particularly physiotherapists and physicians) play a major role in helping athletes to RTS after injury or surgery. The congress also acknowledged the important role of practitioners including orthopaedic surgeons, physiologists, coaches, and strength and conditioning professionals in helping athletes RTS.
Consensus process
A half day consensus meeting was held following the congress (22 November), and 17 members of the consensus group participated. Prior to the congress, members of the consensus group were invited to write a narrative review on their topic area. Authors were asked to focus on summarising what is currently known and what are the future advances needed to advance knowledge in RTS. This information was disseminated to the group and used as a basis for the first round-table discussion, facilitated by two researchers (CLA and KMK), where the four sections of this statement were initially agreed on. Participants then elected to join one of the four groups, and each group focused on a different section of the statement. A section leader was nominated by the members of each group, and participants in each group discussed and summarised the key issues for their section. Each of the groups then presented their summary, and the 17-member group discussed the key issues to refine each section.
Objective
This consensus builds on important formative work published over a decade ago, regarding the team physician's role in the athlete's RTS. In 2002, an expert panel representing the most prominent American orthopaedic, sports and family medicine member societies placed the team physician prominently...