7th European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations Congress
Austrian Sports Medicine Association Congress
Balkan Sports Medicine Association Session
3rd Central European Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Assoc.
Austrian Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Association
German Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Association

The 7th European Sports Medicine Congress
In Salzburg we will address topics not before addressed in such a large forum.
By focusing on the Return to Play issue we will address topics that are highly relevant for the sports clinician today–
As pre-participation testing is becoming standard for top class athletes, more and more “healthy” athletes will present with “abnormal “ ECGs. An international group of experts from Italy, USA, Austria and Germany will discuss what existing guidelines are recommended and will address practical problems that the clinician is likely to encounter. Similarly, we have a range of experts from France, Canada,  Italy and Austria to discuss that most challenging diagnostic and therapeutic problem – the groin injury.
In the third session we will address the whole concept of return to play in the child /adolescent athlete – a topic hardly discussed in other fora. The speakers include two of the world leaders in this field, Prof Lyle Micheli from Harvard University and Dr. Michel Leglise, Vice President of the International Gymnastics Federation.- both played a major role in the IOC Consensus statement on training the elite child athlete. This topic is highly relevant as the Youth Olympic Games are to be held 3 months after the congress in the neighboring town of Innsbruck. As the congress is being held in Austria, it is only natural that there will also be a focus on Winter Sports.
Finally, as this is the first time the European Sports Medicine Congress is being held in conjunction with the Central European Congress of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, it gives sports physicians a unique opportunity to view sports medicine world from the physical medicine and rehabilitation viewpoint.
In conclusion, this should be a most worthwhile and groundbreaking congress and we wish you all welcome –

 “ Herzlich Willkommen nach Salzburg”

One could well ask why a joint meeting of Sports Medicine and Physical medicine and Rehabilitation? We are running a joint meeting with PM and R because we feel, that although there is a difference in both these fields, there is an area of overlap. These are:

     Sports injuries (including prevention, diagnosis and treatment)
     Functional rehabilitation in sports medicine
This multidisciplinary approach is often a way to assist doctors see with greater insight how the problems of injuries are approached from a short and long term basis.

There is of course a difference in the 2 areas of specialty. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation mainly undertake the task of long term care of physical injuries in the general community. Injuries, in elite or week-end athletes, is most often overseen by Sports Medicine Physicians and Surgeons. Some of the methods used are similar for both these tasks and we can learn from each other in how best to care for physical injuries.

Among Sports Medicine’s other tasks, it has been burdened with the task of understanding and combating doping in sport. Although this is an area now being administered by WADA there are many grey areas of diagnosis and treatment of athletes in the interface between doping and best medical care. Sports medicine sees itself playing a major role in 
     Sports medicine issues in anti-doping
     Internal medical problems in sports and exercise including
          Cardiology (sudden death and abnormal ECGs),
          Respiratory medicine (asthma diagnosis in sport),
          Hematology, endocrinology and others
Sports medicine also includes
     a.  Sports and exercise physiology
     b.  Kinesiology and biomechanics in sports medicine
     c.  Sports Nutrition and ergogenic aids
     d.  Sports psychology, circadian rhythm
     e.  Exercise, the forgotten prescription, for the prevention and treatment of
          chronic diseases
We will endeavour to cover this wide group of areas of Sports medicine with a special emphasis as outlined by our colleagues from the Commission on Education and Science  of EFSMA and the Balkan SMA.

Enjoy this 7th Congress of EFSMA.
Joseph Cummiskey MD, President EFSMA, July 2010

Joseph Cummiskey MD
President EFSMA, July 2010

Dear Colleagues
It is with great pleasure that I invite you all to participate at the 7th European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations Congress in Salzburg 2011. Having attended 6 major congresses in the last 18 months, I think it would be interesting to have a congress that applies a more in-depth approach to a few relevant topics rather than the more traditional tendency to address a multiplicity of conditions. This congress will therefore focus its attention on an issue that is highly relevant for both sports medical physicians and rehabilitation physicians alike – when can an athlete/patient return to activity. We are all aware of the dangers associated with premature return to activity – damage to incompletely repaired structures, chronic inflammation, missed diagnosis etc., while at the same time being aware of the athlete’s/patient’s needs to return to play/work.
It is our intention to discuss three topics that are highly relevant issues for the practicing sports physician.

1. ECGs – in recent years there has been a lot of research in the area of sudden cardiac death in sport. Pre-participation ECG testing is now commonplace in sports. The sports physician is being confronted with three types of ECG results – normal ECGs (thus indicating that the athlete is Fit to Play), pathological ECGs  (indicating that the athlete is not Fit to Play), and finally, abnormal ECGs. How should the sports physician interpret an abnormal ECG – should only athletes with normal ECGs be considered Fit to Play? Can athletes with abnormal ECGs be declared Fit to Play. These are some of the issues that will be brought to light by leading cardiologists and sports physicians.
2. Groin Injuries – athletes can miss many months of activity due to incorrect diagnosis and treatment. What exactly should the clinician be looking for? What is a groin injury? What are the differential diagnoses in male, female, adolescent and child athletes? Many athletes have coexisting injuries, it is possible for clinicians to diagnose and manage one injury while leaving a second injury undiagnosed and untreated. Obviously, decisions regarding return to play are dependent on the clinician’s ability to diagnose and to offer correct treatment. These issues will be discussed by leading experts in the field.
3. Child Athletes – the IOC have recently produced an extensive document on the health of the child athlete. Prof. Michel Leglise from the IOC will lead a discussion where this document is evaluated in relation to the child athlete’s return to play.

Finally, as Salzburg resides in the heart of one the worlds great winter sports regions, it is only proper to have a section on the diagnosis and treatment of winter sports illnesses and injuries. The fact that the first Winter Youth Olympic Games will be held in Innsbruck three months after the Salzburg Congress highlights the need for such a topic.

So on behalf of EFSMA and the course organizers, I would like to welcome all to the beautiful city of Salzburg in October 2011 to participate in what we hope will be a successful and academically rewarding journey to Europe’s winter heartland.

Best Regards

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Balkan Sports Medicine Association, I am pleased to invite you to a session dedicated to the “Overtraining Syndrome – Return to play”, during the 7th EFSMA Congress.

During its over 40 years’ history, the Balkan Sports Medicine Association has developed a tradition of achievements in the field of sports medicine. It reunites the National Sports Medicine Societies from the Balkan countries, in an effort to regularly exchange information and good practice in scientific research and in higher education. Every two years, a Balkan Congress of Sports Medicine has been organized, with high scientific standards. The Balkan Sports Medicine Association is also maintaining close contacts with the International Sports Medicine Federation, the European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations, the International Association of Olympic Medical Officers and the Medical Board of the International Olympic Committee.

Our aim with the above mentioned session is to offer a practical guide about current position statements of the Overtraining syndrome, with a special focus on the accepted diagnostic parameters and return to play criteria.

I hope we will all profit from two hours of intensive exchange of knowledge on this topic and we are looking forward to seeing you there!