young athletes

SAN FRANCISCO (MedPage Today) -- Young athletes with torn elbow ligaments, for whom rest and physical therapy were ineffective, quickly returned to play after receiving platelet-rich plasma injections.

Researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found a more than 400% jump in knee injuries in young people treated at this large urban medical center between 1999 and 2011.

Their findings offer a glimpse at just how many kids' legs might be getting hurt when playing sports in recent years.

There was about a 60% increase in the estimated number of concussions and other traumatic brain injuries (TBI) seen among young athletes during the past decade, according to the CDC.

(MedPage Today) -- Though trauma-related deaths in young athletes are rare, football players appear to be at the greatest risk, researchers say.

(American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine) The jury is still out on the effectiveness of prevention programs for knee injuries in young athletes, according to a study presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting.

Better designed research studies are needed before it can be determined that ACL and knee injuries can be prevented with specialized training programs, the study noted.

Doctors know that sudden cardiac death is more common among athletes than non-athletes. But the more research that's done on the condition, the louder the debate over how athletes should be screened for the condition -- and how much it should cost

COLUMBUS, Ohio (MedPage Today) -- High school athletes' risk of shoulder injuries varies by sport, but the risk is greater for boys and during competition rather than practice, investigators here reported in one of the few studies of its kind.

MUNICH (MedPage Today) -- Screening young athletes with a 12-lead ECG before participation can identify those with heart defects up to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who had been cleared to play, said investigators here.

Serious sports injuries, which in the past were suffered mostly by adults, are occurring with increasing regularity among young athletes.

The problem is: Repairs that work for adults may cause problems and hinder growth for youths.