REGISTRATION OF CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURIES IN NORWEGIAN TOP-LEVEL TEAM HANDBALL - A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY COVERING 2 SEASONS

All cruciate ligament injuries in the three upper divisions for men an d women (3392 players) in Norwegian team handball in the 1989-90 and 1 990-91 seasons were registered. A questionnaire was mailed to all inju red players. Ninety-three cruciate ligament injuries were registered; 87 in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and six in the posterior c ruciate ligament (PCL). Among women, 1.8% were injured compared with 1 .0% of the men. In the first division, the risk of being injured was c onsiderably higher: 4.5% of the players had a cruciate ligament injury . There were 0.97 cruciate ligament injuries per 1000 playing hours in the three divisions taken together. Seventy-five per cent of the inju ries occurred during games. Ninety-five per cent involved no contact b etween players. Activities in which the friction between shoe and floo r was significant caused 55% of the injuries. Injuries caused by runni ng into another player contributed to only 5% of the injuries. No sign ificant differences were observed in injury incidence during matches b etween different types of floors (parquet, Pu-lastic and other synthet ic surfaces).