The Duke Medical Minute allows Duke specialists to give a brief snapshot into health offerings at Duke.

In this episode, William Garrett, MD, speaks about common injuries seen in soccer players and techniques players can use to avoid them.

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Podcast Transcript

Announcer: We’re talking with Dr. William Garrett, professor of Duke Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke Sports Medicine.

Soccer injuries can range all over the place. What are the most serious ones that those who participate and the parents of those who play should be looking out for?

Garrett: The accidents that are causing most of the long-term disability and medical care bills are knee injuries primarily. There are more serious injuries, of course -- the head injury has received a lot of attention lately. There are a lot of  ankle sprains, but they are not so difficult to treat.

The problem is the ACL injuries. With more people playing and with more people playing at an earlier age, ages 14 to 18, they are more vulnerable to injuries. And we’re seeing a huge impact  and a huge increase in the last 20 years in the number of ACL injuries incurred in the under-20 age group -- the group actually before they go to high school.

We’re looking here to try to do something more preventive, thinking particularly of a bracing study and of sending out patients to a physical therapist to learn preventive programs.