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Title

Medical screening of tennis players - what the coach needs to know

Abstract

The main purpose of medical screening (also called pre-participation physical exam or periodic health evaluation) of athletes is to detect injuries or medical conditions that may place an athlete at risk for safe participation, to ensure that current health problems are managed appropriately, and to assess the risk of future injury or disease.1 The medical encounter is also an entry point for medical care of the athlete, and an opportunity to educate the athlete on health risks, health-related behaviour and requirements related to the WADA doping list.

Summary

Although the health evaluation can indirectly improve performance by a reduced injury rate, medical screening in itself is not a way to assess performance. There are numerous other tests available to assess performance parameters, such as speed, endurance, strength, agility etc.
In this presentation, I will not go into details of all the body systems that can be screened during a medical exam, but I will only focus on those tests that are most relevant to the coach.
The following will be discussed:
anthropometry: height, weight, prediction of adult height, fat percentage
history and physical examination
musculoskeletal injuries and functional musculoskeletal screening
blood and urine tests
cardiac screening
lung function tests
gynaecology: menstrual cycle, the pill, bone density
vision screening
podiatry
nutrition
psychology
extra tests (ultrasound scan, MRI, DEXA scan)
Reference
1. Ljungqvist A, Jenoure P, Engebretsen L , et al. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Consensus Statement on periodic health evaluation of elite athletes, March 2009. Br J Sports Med 2009;43:631-643.

CV

Name

Babette

Surname

Pluim

Curriculum vitae

Babette Pluim, M.D., Ph.D., is a Sports Physician and is the Medical Director of the Royal Netherlands Lawn Tennis Association. She is the team physician of the Dutch Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams, and tournament doctor at the ATP and WTA tournaments in ‘s Hertogenbosch, Amersfoort, and Rotterdam (the Netherlands). Dr. Pluim is a member of the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Medical Committee, the ITF Sports Medical Commission, and the WADA Health, Medical and Research Commitee. She is editor-in-chief of ‘Medicine and Science in Tennis’, the journal of the Society for Tennis Medicine and Science, and guest-editor of the special tennis-edition of the British Journal of Sports Medicine (fall 2007). Dr. Pluim wrote a PhD thesis on “The Athlete’s Heart”. She has also been involved in several publications including: co-editing the book ‘Tennis Medicine for Tennis Coaches’ with Miguel Crespo and Machar Reid, writing the chapter ‘Medical care of tennis players’ for the IOC Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science: Tennis, and co-writing with Marc Safran the book ‘From Breakpoint to Advantage: a Practical Guide for Optimal Tennis Health and Performance’.

History

Member for

2 years 41 weeks