Elite and Professional sports facial injuries management - a consensus report

Neil Scott; Justin Hughes; Claire Forbes-Haley; Charles East; Simon Holmes; Ewan Wilson; Simon Ball; Douglas Hammond; David Drake; Iain Hutchison; Alistair R M Cobb

doi:10.1016/j.bjoms.2020.08.046

Elite and Professional sports facial injuries management - a consensus report

Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2020 Dec;58(10):e254-e259. doi: 10.1016/j.bjoms.2020.08.046. Epub 2020 Aug 26.

Authors

Neil Scott¹, Justin Hughes², Claire Forbes-Haley³, Charles East⁴, Simon Holmes⁵, Ewan Wilson⁶, Simon Ball⁷, Douglas Hammond⁸, David Drake⁹, Iain Hutchison¹⁰, Alistair R M Cobb¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Consultant in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Cardiff & Vale University Health Board. Electronic address: neil.scott@icloud.com.
² Consultant in Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Medicine,, London. Electronic address: justinhughes44@gmail.com.
³ Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, Bristol Dental Hospital, Bristol. Electronic address: clairefh@me.com.
⁴ Consultant in Otolaryngology, University College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London. Electronic address: eastca@gmail.com.
⁵ Departments of Craniofacial traumatology and Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, The Royal London Hospital, London. Electronic address: sbholmes1@mac.com.
⁶ Consultant in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, North Bristol NHS Trust. Electronic address: ewanwilson@doctors.net.uk.
⁷ Consultant in Trauma and Orthopaedic surgery, Chelsea Westminster Hospital, London. Electronic address: si_ball@hotmail.com.
⁸ Consultant in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, Senior Lecturer in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Central Lancashire. Electronic address: douglashammond1976@gmail.com.
⁹ Consultant in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow. Electronic address: drakey@doctors.org.uk.
¹⁰ Honorary consultant in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Barts Health London. Electronic address: hutch.london@googlemail.com.
¹¹ Consultant in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol. Electronic address: alicobb@yahoo.com.

PMID: 32994134
DOI: 10.1016/j.bjoms.2020.08.046

Abstract

Whilst there have been great improvements in the management of elite and professional athletes with the formalisation of the clinical specialty of Sports and Exercise medicine, the management of facial injuries has perhaps lagged in this group. Professional athletic careers can be put in jeopardy due to unnecessarily long absences from training and competition after facial injuries. Professional and elite sports athletes can benefit from different approaches to the management of their facial injuries to reduce time away from competing but maximise their safety. On 6^th December 2018, a consensus meeting of interested clinicians involved in the management of facial injuries of elite and professional athletes was held at the Royal Society of Medicine, London, UK to provide a contemporary review of the approaches to conservative, operative and recovery management of facial injuries. National experts with specialist experience of facial injuries presentation and athlete needs from a range of elite and professional sports led the day's programme and the discussions so that guidelines could be formulated. These are presented in this review paper.

Keywords: Maxillofacial; Trauma; consensus; craniofacial; elite; exercise; facial; injury; professional sports; rehabilitation; sport.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Athletic Injuries* / therapy
Consensus
Facial Injuries* / therapy
Humans
London
Sports*