Objective To determine whether the proportion of sport-related concussion (SRC) cases among student athletes that resulted in a relapse of their symptoms due to premature return to play (RTP) or premature return to learn (RTL) has changed compared with a prior (2006 to 2011) study.Design Retrospective cohort study of electronic medical record charts from a 5-year period (2011 to 2016) compared with previous data.Setting A sport and exercise medicine physician's office-based practice in Ontario.Participants Two-hundred forty-one students who had 258 distinct cases of SRC diagnosed. Main outcome measuresPremature RTP and RTL were defined as chart records documenting the relapse, recurrence, or worsening of concussion symptoms that accompanied the patient's RTP or RTL.This article has been peer reviewed. Cet article a fait l'objet d'une révision par des pairs.

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Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is characterized by the presence of clinically detected myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). Diagnostic ultrasound (US) has been proposed as a method to strengthen the reliability of MTrP localization, thus potentially improving the efficacy and safety profile of interventional procedures. The objective is to evaluate the benefit and safety profile of any US-guided interventional procedure for MPS. Medline, Embase, PubMed, the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), and Web of Science were systematically searched from their inception to May 2020 for any randomized controlled trial that evaluated treatment benefit and safety of any US-guided interventional procedure for MPS. The primary outcome of interest was pain severity. Additional outcomes of interest were function and adverse effects. The risk of bias was assessed using the Risk of Bias V.2.0 tool. eleven studies met all inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two studies (n=174) with a high risk of bias revealed some evidence supporting US guidance over blinded interventions for improvement in pain and function. Eight studies (n=483) with varying risks of bias were of head-to-head comparisons of different US modalities. These studies revealed that US-guided local anesthetic injections were inferior to US-guided pulse radiofrequency and US-guided dry needling (DN). US-guided DN was also found to be superior to US-guided platelet-rich-plasma injections but inferior to US-guided miniscalpel. Meanwhile, one study (n=21) with some concerns of bias found that US-guided local anesthetic injections were superior to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for pain outcomes and fewer adverse events. All US-guided procedures resulted in zero or minimal self-limited adverse events. Issues with clinical relevance, limited sample sizes, and small point estimates warrant more high-quality research to better characterize the possible value of US-guided injections.

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Objective: A Cochrane Systematic Review published by Linde et al. in 2016 found moderate evidence suggesting that acupuncture is ''at least non-inferior'' to conventional prophylactic drug treatments (flunarizine, metoprolol, and valproic acid) for episodic migraine prophylaxis. The evidence for the efficacy of these conventional treatments must be verified to strengthen and validate the original comparison made in Linde et al.'s 2016 review. The aim of the current authors' systematic review was to verify the efficacy of the conventional treatments used in Linde et al.'s 2016 comparison with acupuncture. Materials and Methods: Search strategies were applied to find studies that could verify the efficacy of conventional treatments for treating episodic migraines. Relevant outcomes and dosages were extracted from the retrieved studies. Each study's quality was assessed, using the Cochrane's collaboration tool for assessing risk of bias and the Cochrane GRADE [Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation] scale. Results: There is high-quality evidence suggesting that prophylactic drug treatment, at the treatment dosage ranges used in Linde et al.'s 2016 review, reduced headache frequency at a 3-month follow-up, compared to placebo. Headache frequency at a 6-month follow-up, and responses (at least 50% reduction of headache frequency) at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups could not be assessed. Conclusions: These findings strengthened Linde et al.'s 2016 comparison of conventional treatments and acupuncture for reducing headache frequency at a 3-month follow-up. For episodic migraine prophylaxis, moderate evidence suggests that acupuncture is ''at least non-inferior,'' to now-proven, conventional treatments. This raises significant questions in the debate concerning claims that acupuncture is a placebo-based treatment and the prescriptions of proven conventional treatments that have similar effects as acupuncture.

IntroductionAthletes have attempted to glean the ergogenic benefits of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) since it became available in the 1980s. However, there is limited consensus in the literature regarding its true performance-enhancing effects. In fact, some studies suggest there is no conclusive evidence; therefore, it is necessary to evaluate and quantify the strength of the evidence.ObjectiveTo determine the effects of erythropoietin on enhancing athletic performance.DesignAt least two independent reviewers conducted citation identification through abstract and full-text screening, and study selection, and extracted raw data on demographics, descriptions of interventions and all outcomes to predesigned abstraction forms. Outcomes were stratified by treatment periods and dosages. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and Cochrane Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Education (GRADE) scale. Where appropriate, quantitative analysis was performed.Data sourcesEMBASE, MEDLINE and SPORTDiscus were searched from their inception to January 2020.Eligibility criteriaTrials that examined any enhancement in sport in healthy participants aged 18–65 using rHuEPO compared with placebo were included.ResultsOverall, there is low-to-moderate quality evidence suggesting rHuEPO may be more beneficial than placebo in enhancing haematological parameters, pulmonary measures, maximal power output and time to exhaustion independent of dosage. However, these improvements are almost exclusively seen during maximal exercise intensities, which may be less relevant to athletic competition conditions.ConclusionDue to heterogeneity among trials, more high-quality randomised controlled trials with larger sample sizes in conditions that mirror actual competition are needed to further elucidate these effects.

Because the number and quality of studies was low, the effects of marijuana on athletic performance remain unclear.

Background: Depression and anxiety disorders are considered to be among the greatest burdens of disease in children and adolescents. Recent literature has reported music therapy to be a safe and potentially effective intervention for the treatment of depression and anxiety. This systematic review examined the effectiveness of music therapy in reducing the symptom severity of depression and/or anxiety among children and adolescents. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were obtained from a systematic search of nine major English databases from inception to January 2021. Studies were categorized by outcome, music therapy technique and follow-up period. Results: Seven RCTs (n = 589) were included. Four RCTs had some concern of bias, while three had high risk of bias. Statistical pooling was not appropriate due to clinical heterogeneity. Four studies (n = 428) favoured music therapy for improvement of depressive symptoms at short-and intermediate-term follow-ups compared to control. One study (n = 106) favoured music therapy for improvement of anxiety symptoms at short-term follow-up compared to control. No studies favoured any control over music therapy for symptom improvement of depression and/or anxiety. Conclusion: Limited evidence suggests music therapy is an effective treatment for improving depression and/or anxiety symptom severity in children and adolescents. More high-quality RCTs are needed to address methodological flaws of current studies. Key Practitioner Message• There is evidence that suggests music therapy is an effective intervention in improving the symptoms of depression and/or anxiety in children and adolescents.• Previous literature did not address the clinical heterogeneity between the included studies; types of music therapy interventions, various controls and follow-up periods.• This review addressed the previous limitations by updating the search strategy and including more databases, stratifying outcomes based on the type of music therapy, assessing risk of bias and addressing the clinical heterogeneity between the included studies.• There is limited evidence that active and receptive music therapy techniques are effective in reducing depression symptoms among children and adolescents.• Further high-quality RCTs that include follow-up periods and stratification based on type of music therapy intervention are necessary to provide more robust conclusions regarding its effectiveness in improving symptoms of depression and/or anxiety in children and adolescents.