The best sports medicine journal

[JBL]

Hi - I was wondering if you could supply a top 5 for the sports medicine journals. I know "sports medicine" will have a high impact factor because it contains only review articles with extensive reference lists, but in your opinion what are the best 5, in order, to publish in.

JBL

PS: I have just finished a critical review on surgical intervention for ITB friction syndrome. Perhaps you would like to co-author with me? Would you like to review my article?

[injuryupdate]

According to Impact Factor, best 2003 results in Sports sciences were:

1. Exerc Immunol Rev
2. J Appl Physiol
3. Med Sci Sport Exer
4. Sports med
5. Am J Sports Med

However I wouldn't count 1 & 2 as true sports medicine journals, so I would say top 5 would include 3, 4 and 5, maybe add Br J Sports Med, Clin J of Sports Med as the other two to make up the top 5.

I would be interested in reviewing and/or coauthoring an article on ITBFS, so Private message me please (or email).

[JBL]

The reviewing won't take too long. The only case I could find for surgical management for ITB syndrome was stumbled upon in an old sport health mag. 100% success rate though.

[JBL]

Here it is. Post your feedback on the forum and we'll see about submitting it to a reputable journal...

Surgical Interventions for Iliotibial Band Syndrome: A Review of the Literature

Methodology
The Cochrane Database, Sports Discus, Medline search engine and John Orchard Web Site was searched from 1980 to present with the following search terms: iliotibial AND surgical which resulted in 9 papers. Papers were selected that were in English and on the basis of relevance. Iliotibial AND surgery had 0 results.

Introduction
Iliotibial Band (ITB) Syndrome is a relatively common overuse condition in the running and athletic population, including football players, and cyclists (Martens et al 1989). Semi-elite athletic type medicos are also known to suffer the condition (Orchard 1998). It can occur unilaterally or bilaterally (Orchard 1998). ITB Sydnrome's treatment, heavily relying on biomechanical considerations, is a somewhat straight forward procedure with a good clinical success rate. However, if such prolonged conservative interventions prove unsuccessful, surgical intervention may occur.

Diagnosis
Diagnosis is usually clinical since radiographs are negative (Martens et al 1989). In a study performed by Martens et al (1989) an ultrasound examination was positive in only one of 23 cases, suggesting that this process is to some extent irrelevant.

Technique
The posterior half of the iliotibial band is transsected where it passes over the lateral epicondyle of the femur (Drogest et al 1999, Martens et al 1989). This is performed with the knee held in 60 degrees of flexion (Martens et al 1989). It remains to the surgeons discretion as to whether the underlying bursae are removed or not.

Success
In a retrospective analysis by Drogset et al (1999) 45 cases were reviewed. Of the patients, 22 (48.9%) had excellent results, 16 (35.5%) had good results, 6 (13.3%) had fair results and 1 (2.2%) patient had a poor result. One patient had a minor postoperative infection. A case report exists reporting a significant post operative bleed (Orchard 1998).

Conclusion
The surgical treatment of ITB Syndrome appears to have high success rate. However, other more cost effective treatment methods should be further considered in an attempt to develop best practices for the chronic form of this condition.

Acknowledgements
No payment or funding was received in the preparation of this manuscript. The author has no conflict of interest.

References
Drogset JO, Rossvoll I, Grontvedt T. Surgical treatment of iliotibial band friction syndrome. A retrospective study of 45 patients. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 1999;9(5):296-8.

Martens M, Libbrecht P, Burssens A. Surgical treatment of the iliotibial band friction syndrome. Am J Sports Med. 1989;17(5):651-4.

Orchard J. The cure for scalpel envy. Sport Health, September 1998