Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 84, Issue 6 , Pages 849-853, June 2003

Complications from therapeutic modalities: results of a national survey of athletic trainers1

  • Scott F Nadler, DO

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, UMDNJ-NJ Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests to Scott F. Nadler, DO, Dept of PM&R, UMDNJ-NJ Medical Sch, 90 Bergen St, Ste 3100, Newark, NJ 07103 USA
  • ,
  • Michael Prybicien, ATC

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Education, St Peter’s College, Newark, NJ, USA
  • ,
  • Gerard A Malanga, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, UMDNJ-NJ Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA
    • Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, West Orange, NJ, USA
  • ,
  • Dan Sicher, ATC, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Education, St Peter’s College, Newark, NJ, USA

Abstract 

Nadler SF, Prybicien M, Malanga GA, Sicher D. Complications from therapeutic modalities: results of a national survey of athletic trainers.

Objective:

To understand better the frequency and type of complications encountered by athletic trainers.

Design:

A descriptive questionnaire.

Setting:

Athletic training facilities at the high school, college, and professional levels, as well as physical therapy clinics.

Participants:

A total of 3012 certified athletic trainers employed in above-mentioned settings.

Interventions:

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures:

Frequency and types of complications encountered for different modalities were computed. Primary modality type used and frequency of complications in different settings were explored.

Results:

Of the 3012 surveyed, 905 (30%) responded, 26% of whom reported a complication; 362 total complications were documented. Cryotherapy accounted for 42% of complications, with allergic reactions (n=86), burns (n=23), and intolerance/pain (n=16) most commonly listed. Electric stimulation accounted for 29% of complications, with skin irritation (n=41), burns (n=40), and intolerance/pain (n=18) most commonly listed. Therapeutic heat accounted for 22% of complications; therapeutic exercise accounted for 7% of complications.

Conclusions:

Compared with documented complications in the peer-reviewed literature, our survey results differed vastly with regard to the complications encountered. This may reflect a learning phenomenon, a shift in modality usage, or a general underreporting of complications.

Keywords:  Athletic injuries, Cryotherapy, Rehabilitation, Sports

 
  • 1 No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.

PII: S0003-9993(02)04955-9

doi:10.1016/S0003-9993(02)04955-9

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 84, Issue 6 , Pages 849-853, June 2003