The Shoulders of Professional Beach Volleyball Players

Abstract

The prevalence of infraspinatus muscle atrophy in professional beach volleyball players is 30%. The typical, fully competitive player has subjectively unrecognized decreased strength of external rotation and frequent unspecific shoulder pain. Therefore, abnormal clinical and imaging findings in the beach volleyball player should be interpreted with care.

Is suprascapular neuropathy common in high-performance beach volleyball players? A retrospective analysis

“…Also, different from other studies [1,3], we included male and female players and beach volleyball players. To our knowledge, just one study by Lajtai et al [4] evaluated infraspinatus muscle atrophy in professional beach volleyball players. They found a prevalence of 30 % for infraspinatus muscle atrophy, which was not typically recognized by the players, and 63 % players reported unspecific shoulder pain in the hitting arm.…”

“…These results are in line with our data. Lajtai et al [4] recommended further EMG-based studies to confirm the hypothesis that the cause of infraspinatus atrophy in volleyball players is a stretching neuropathy of the suprascapular nerve caused by repetitive hitting activity. In our study, we additionally performed an electrophysiological examination and could not find acute or chronic neurogenic alterations in the EMG of…”

“…In relation to instability problems and rotator cuff and acromioclavicular joint pathologies, nerve lesions are relatively rare [1]. The prevalence of suprascapular neuropathy ranges between 12.5 and 33 % in professional volleyball players [1][2][3][4]. The underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood.…”

“…Different possibilities are discussed in the literature. Repetitive microtrauma by repeated traction [2,4] and microemboli in the vasa nervorum [5] are proposed as possible causes. An association between retracted rotator cuff tears and suprascapular neuropathy is also suggested [6,7].…”

Patrón Lesivo en Campeonato De España Universitario De Vóley Playa / Pattern of Injuries in Beach Volleyball at the Spanish National University Championship

“…Estas publicaciones sobre lesiones han llevado a centrar las investigaciones en conocer con mayor profundidad las causas específicas sobre lesiones en rodilla de jugadores de playa (Ottesen, Barfod & Holck, 2014;Pfirrmann, Jost, Pirkl, Aitzetmuller & Lajtai, 2008) u hombro (Lajtai et al, 2009;Monteleone et al, 2014;Pieber et al, 2014). Por otro lado, el conocimiento y estudio sobre las lesiones sufridas, ha llevado al desarrollo de programas para la rehabilitación (Cumps et al, 2008) y tratamiento de dolencias (Chen, Yang, Wei, Zhang & Han, 2009) específicos para estos deportistas.…”