[Can sports injuries be prevented? Troubling shortage of controlled trials on the effects of prevention].

A review of literature on the prevention of sports injuries shows many preventive measures to have been suggested, but few clinical trials to have been performed. A database search yielded only seven prospective, randomised studies, of which two showed soccer and running injuries to be preventable using a combination of preventive measures. Other clinical trials have shown it possible to prevent certain types of injury in other sports as well. The use of prophylactic ankle stabilisers and/or proprioceptive ankle disc training to reduce the incidence of ankle sprain is well documented. Of two studies presenting preventive measures to reduce the incidence of knee ligament injuries, one showed the risk of knee sprain in American football to be reducible by means of a knee brace, and the other that the risk of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in soccer could be reduced by proprioceptive training. Several commonly used preventive measures, such as stretching, taping, mental training and controlled rehabilitation, still await further documentation or the scrutiny of a clinical trial.