Injuries to the Female Athlete in 2017

* Among female and male patients with hip labral pathology, female patients have smaller alpha angles, acetabular version values, and femoral anteversion values when compared with male patients. * Revision hip arthroscopic surgical procedures for femoroacetabular impingement are more common in female patients than male patients. * Not all patients with shoulder laxity have instability, and it is critical for clinicians to understand that shoulder laxity is not synonymous with instability, particularly in the female athlete. * Among high-school and collegiate athletic patient populations, female athletes are more likely to sustain some ankle and knee injuries compared with male athletes when assessing sex-comparable sports participation. * The rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture in female athletes is at least 3 times higher than the rate of ACL rupture in male athletes. Although many potential variables, including anatomical differences, hormonal differences, biomechanical factors, neuromuscular factors, genetic predisposition, and even psychological assessment of competitive ability, have been suggested, no single factor can account for this remarkable difference. * Sex-based differences in native knee anatomy and kinematics, including increased quadriceps (Q)-angles and femoral anteversion in female athletes compared with male athletes, contribute to higher rates of recurrent patellar instability in female athletes. * Sex-based differences in dynamic knee valgus or tibiofemoral abduction, quadriceps dominance or relative hamstring weakness, foot pronation, and tibial external rotation, as well as possible core weakness, for example, have all been implicated as risk factors for ACL injury and patellofemoral pain or instability in the female athlete.