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The aim of this study was to describe elbow problems among goalkeepers in team handball. A questionnaire was sent to the coaches of 449 senior and 32 junior teams in Norway in 1992. Of these, 304 coaches responded (63%) and their teams were included in the study. A total of 329 out of 729 goalkeepers (45±1.8%) and 166 out of 4120 court players (4.0±0.3%) were reported by their coaches to have current or previous symptoms from one or both elbows when playing handball. In response to a second questionnaire sent to all the goalkeepers (729; response rate 81%), 41±2.0% reported current elbow problems and an additional 34±2.0% reported previous problems. During a 2‐year observation period from 1992 to 1994, 8.6±1.8% of the goalkeepers with previously healthy elbows experienced elbow problems. The typical complaint was recurrent pain and disability episodes, each with an acute onset, but with varying duration. The mechanism of injury for the goalkeepers appears to be repeated hyperextension traumas. We conclude that elbow pain and disability is a significant problem for a large number of goalkeepers in team handball. These problems may be described as a syndrome called ‘handball goalie's elbow’.

We wanted to use biomechanical testing in a cadaveric model to compare the Broström repair, the Watson-Jones reconstruction, and a new anatomic reconstruction method. Eight specimens were held in a specially designed testing apparatus in which the ankle position (dorsiflexion-plantar flexion and supination-pronation) could be varied in a controlled manner. Testing was done with intact ligaments and was repeated after sectioning of the anterior talofibular ligament and the calcaneofibular ligament and after a Broström repair, a Watson-Jones reconstruction, and a new anatomic reconstruction were performed. An anterior drawer test was performed using an anterior translating force of 10 to 50 N, and a talar tilt test was performed using a supination torque of 1.1 to 3.4 N-m. The forces in the anterior talofibular ligament and calcaneofibular ligament were measured with buckle transducers, and tibiotalar motion and total ankle joint motion were measured with an instrumented spatial linkage. The increase in ankle joint laxity observed after sectioning of both the anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments was significantly reduced by the three reconstructive techniques, although not always to the level of the intact ankle. Joint motion was restricted after the Watson-Jones procedure compared with that in the intact ankle. Unlike the Watson-Jones procedure, the ligament or graft force patterns observed during loading after the Broström repair and the new anatomic technique resembled those observed in the intact ankle.

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