793 MEP095 – The acute effect of a sixes lacrosse match on lower leg injury risk factors in male lacrosse players

AbstractBackground World Lacrosse Sixes is a new variant of lacrosse. Non-contact lower leg injuries were the most abundant injuries in the British Lacrosse men's national team, accounting for 28% of injuries due to Sixes. Modifiable injury risk factors associated with Sixes requires investigation to inform injury risk mitigation strategies. Objective To observe the acute effects of Sixes match-play on lower limb injury risk factors in male Sixes lacrosse players. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting International men's Sixes match.Participants A men's national Sixes squad (n=12) Interventions Participants played a men's Sixes lacrosse match against another national team. Pre- and post-match measurements were taken of lower leg injury risk factors.Main Outcome Measurements Pre- and post-match plantar flexion strength (PFS), dorsiflexion range of motion (DFROM) and countermovement jump (CMJ) measurements were taken. Paired t-tests and Hedge's g were used to determine the significance and effect sizes. Match load was measured via global positioning system and rate of perceive exertion. Results Differences in PFS were trivial pre-match and post-match in the non-dominant leg (g=0.04, p=0.83) and dominant leg (g=-0.09, p=0.62). A small increase in DFROM in the non-dominant leg was observed post-match (g=0.31, p=<0.01), whilst differences in the dominant leg DFROM were trivial (g=0.19, p=0.06,). CMJ metrics showed a small difference in jump height (g=0.33, p=0.06), jump momentum (g=0.12, p=0.24) and countermovement depth (g=0.28, p=0.05). Time to take off (g=-0.55, p=0.10), reactive strength index-modified (g=0.75, p=0.07) showed moderate differences. Body mass showed a trivial decrease (g=-0.10, p=0.01) following Sixes match-play. Conclusion A Sixes match had trivial-small effects on PFS and DFROM as well as small-moderate changes in CMJ performance in this cohort of lacrosse players. Further research is required to determine the accumulative effect of multiple Sixes games in a congested time period on injury risk factors, to inform injury prevention strategies.