Search

Purpose Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are a common severe type of football injury at all levels of play. A football-specific ACL registry providing both prospective ACL injury data according to the skill level and risk factors for ACL injury is lacking in the literature. Methods This study is based on the prospective ‘ACL registry in German Football’ implemented in the 2014–15 season. Professional (1st–3rd league), semi-professional (4th–6th league) and amateur leagues (7th league) were analysed regarding the incidence and risk factors for ACL injuries. Injuries were registered according to the direct reports of the injured players to the study office and double-checked via media analysis. After injury registration, the players received a standardised questionnaire. Data were analysed from the 2014–15 to the 2018–19 football season. Results Overall, 958 ACL injuries were registered during the 5-year study period. The incidence of ACL injuries was highest in amateur football (0.074/1000 h football exposure) compared to professional (0.058/1000 h; p p Conclusion This sports-specific ACL registry provides detailed information on the incidence and risk factors for ACL injuries in football over five years. Risk factors are skill level, match exposure, move to a higher league and previous knee injury. These factors offer potential starting points for screening at-risk players and applying targeted prevention. Level of evidence II.

The incidence of melanoma is steadily increasing in the Western hemisphere, and one key factor is UV exposure. Sun protection is essential, particularly in patients with diagnosed melanoma. However, data on the psychological implications of sunscreen protection in melanoma patients are lacking. This project was designed as a randomised controlled feasibility trial to explore the feasibility of the diary method and tube count to assess patient compliance in the setting of a monocentric trial, furthermore to observe any recognisable trends regarding anxiety and QoL between the intervention and control group.

Hypertonic saline solutions are in broad medicinal use for treatment of various disorders of nose and paranasal sinuses. This trial aimed at the evaluation of safety and efficacy of a hypertonic saline nasal spray within the scope of routine care in an otorhinolaryngological outpatient setting. One hundred and thirty-six patients were included into this uncontrolled clinical trial and received 2.7% saline solution nasal spray. Symptoms and clinical signs were documented on an ordinal scale of 0–4 during initial and final examination, and both individual symptoms and the sum of symptom scores (clinical sum score) were assessed. Participating patients and physicians furthermore evaluated the clinical benefit of the therapy. Clinical sum score decreased from 13.63 ± 6.65 to 7.85 ± 6.79 (p

Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination is essential to fight the pandemic. Health care workers (HCWs) are prioritized to get vaccinated, yet uptake of recommended vaccinations is known to be low in this group. In a tertiary care university hospital with a high number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care, 59.5% of surveyed staff (N = 2454) were willing to get vaccinated, 21.4% were unsure and 18.7% refused. Vaccine hesitancy was higher in female, younger and healthy employees without contact to Covid-19 patients; nurses (53.3%) were much less willing to get vaccinated compared to physicians (82.7%). Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s15010-021-01622-9.

Limited data exist on the clinical benefits of nasal applications for moistening the nasal mucosa. We therefore investigated the effects of hyaluronic acid, hyaluronic acid plus dexpanthenol and isotonic saline nasal sprays in patients suffering from dry nose symptoms in an otorhinolaryngological outpatient setting.240 patients were randomised into this prospective, three-armed clinical trial with two assessment points (baseline and 4 weeks later). Patients received either hyaluronic acid, hyaluronic acid plus dexpanthenol or isotonic saline nasal spray over a period of four weeks. Rhinitis Sicca Symptom Score (RSSS) was assessed as primary endpoint, and individual symptoms and tolerability of all treatments as secondary endpoints. Patient perceptions after first application of the allocated nasal spray were recorded using the Nasal Spray Sensory Scale. Treatment effects were analysed for each study arm first and subsequently compared against each other.RSSS (hyaluronic acid: mean difference = 8.90 [98.33% CI = 7.34/10.45]; hyaluronic acid plus dexpanthenol: mean difference = 8.42 [98.33% CI = 6.91/9.94]; isotonic saline: mean difference = 8.94 [98.33% CI = 7.33/10.54]), individual symptoms and Endoscopy Score improved significantly (p 0.001) in all treatment arms. Tolerability was assessed as "flawless" in more than 85% of all treatments, which is reflected in overall high rankings in the Nasal Spray Sensory Scale. Perception of nasal moisturisation was reported to be significantly higher in patients receiving hyaluronic acid plus dexpanthenol as compared to patients receiving hyaluronic acid or isotonic saline. No further significant differences were observed between the three treatments.All three tested sprays (hyaluronic acid, hyaluronic acid plus dexpanthenol and isotonic saline) proved to be suitable treatments for patients suffering from dry nose symptoms. (DRKS-ID: DRKS00013357).

Background: Bromelain is a phytotherapeutic drug that is well established in medicinal use for the treatment of injuries and postoperative swelling. It is frequently recommended in otorhinolaryngological indications. However, there is lack of recent clinical data on its use in this setting. Methods: We conducted a non-interventional study including 102 patients to evaluate postsurgical clinical (pain, edema, hematoma, signs of inflammation) and specific nasal symptoms (hindrance of nasal breathing, impairment of sleep, impairment of food intake, impairment of smell, impairment of taste). The participating physicians furthermore assessed the potential additional benefits of bromelain therapy.Results: Clinical and specific nasal symptoms improved significantly during postoperative recovery and an additional benefit was assigned by the physicians given ratings in more than fifty percent of the documented cases. According to the physicians, the consumption of analgesics was “low” in seventy percent of the patients during adjunctive therapy with bromelain. Conclusion: Given the good tolerability of bromelain treatment, this study substantiates its safe and efficacious use in otorhinolaryngological practice.