Welcome to the latest edition of Horizons. The SEMPRIS team are committed to supporting doctors not only through specialist indemnity but also through open, informative dialogue. We were therefore delighted to support the International Sports Surgery and Medicine Conference in Glasgow last month, as part of Health Partners Group. What a fantastic programme of speakers and discussions it was! Thank you to everyone who came and said “hello”.

If there’s an upcoming event you’d like us to include in the next edition, an article you’d like us to highlight, or any vacancies you might wish to notify other members about, please do let us know.

Research, Articles and Podcasts

FEMALE ATHLETES

Training Surface Matters – Sprint interval training on grass, sand, and hard surfaces produces different physical fitness adaptations in collegiate female soccer players. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmnOblWP-vU

Rethinking Injury Risk – Why injury prevention in sport needs a gender-and sex-specific lens https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2026/04/24/rethinking-injury-risk-why-injury-prevention-in-sport-needs-a-gender-and-sex-specific-lens/

Injury Prevention – Lower extremity injury prevention in female, woman, and girl athletes https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2026/05/01/lower-extremity-injury-prevention-in-female-woman-and-girl-athletes/

Cardiomyopathy – Sex differences in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy outcomes in Japan may reflect delayed diagnosis, diagnostic thresholds, and morphological differences https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.125.046708

Pregnancy and Exercise – Effects of supervised exercise during pregnancy on gestational diabetes mellitus and other pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/07/14/bjsports-2026-111586

Imaging in Pregnancy – Quality and safety in medical imaging during pregnancy and lactation — Part 2 https://appliedradiology.com/articles/quality-and-safety-in-medical-imaging-during-pregnancy-and-lactation-part-2

Research – Multidimensional evidence map of sport science and medicine research in highly trained, elite and world-class female athletes: a scoping review https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/07/23/bjsports-2026-111746

GENERAL

Mental Health – International Olympic Committee Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool 2 (IOC SMHAT2): development, content validity and feasibility https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/08/06/bjsports-2025-111408

Strength and Conditioning – Contemporary practice in an English Premier League first team https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17479541261457478

Virtual Reality – The effect of sport-specific virtual reality training for soccer players on cognitive performance and related brain processing https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2026.2692300

Mental Health In Tennis – A cross-organisational hybrid summit-Delphi consensus process https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/60/14/1011

Mental Health Screening – Screening athlete mental health faster without losing accuracy: introducing the AMHS-18 https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2026/07/03/screening-athlete-mental-health-faster-without-losing-accuracy-introducing-the-amhs-18/

Vestibular-Ocular Motor Assessments – From rehabilitation to performance: reframing vestibular-ocular interventions to optimise sports performance https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/06/17/bjsports-2026-111615

Olfaction and Performance – The smell of dark chocolate could make a leg workout easier, even on an empty stomach https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-dark-chocolate-leg-workout-easier.html

RTP – The Time Course of Injury Risk After Return‑to‑Play in Professional Football (Soccer) https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40279-024-02103-3.pdf

Surgical Infection – Single-use surgical gowns are associated with an increased rate of periprosthetic joint infection https://boneandjoint.org.uk/Article/10.1302/0301-620X.108B7.BJJ-2025-0996.R2

Role of the Coach – A qualitative study on stakeholders’ perspectives on injury prevention and management in Senegal (Africa) https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2026/07/06/i-coach-them-i-treat-them-i-listen-to-them-the-multifaceted-role-of-the-coach-a-qualitative-study-on-stakeholders-perspectives-on-injury-prevention-and-management-in-sen/

IMAGING

AI and CT – Advancing Operational Efficiency in CT with AI https://appliedradiology.com/articles/advancing-operational-efficiency-in-ct-with-ai

Ultrasound-Guided Procedures – In vivo ultrasound characterisation of the tibial nerve at the supramalleolar region https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jfa2.70178

CONCUSSION

Screen Time and Recovery – Post-concussion screen time duration and type and its association with symptom resolution in youth aged 11–17 years https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/06/04/bjsports-2025-110310

Concussion Knowledge – Blowing the whistle on concussion knowledge and education in youth sport referees https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2147/OAJSM.S324191

FOCUS – A new soccer concussion protocol could make one of the game’s hardest calls much faster https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-soccer-concussion-protocol-game-hardest.html

Tackle Height – Tackle higher or lower? Simulation to evaluate how changing the tackle height would impact the number of concussions and head acceleration events in men’s professional rugby league https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/60/10/706

CARDIOLOGY

ECG Abnormalities In Athletes – Prevalence and significance of ECG abnormalities in athletes: Data from a multicentre Italian registry https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167527326004304

AF – Exercise based cardiac rehabilitation for atrial fibrillation: Cochrane systematic review, meta-analysis, meta-regression and trial sequential analysis https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/59/17/1242Non-coding DNA – The dark genome in cardiovascular medicine https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurheartj/ehag514/8729371

MSK

Anterior Shoulder Dislocation – Arthroscopic Bankart repair versus immobilization for a first episode before the age of 25 years https://myorthoevidence.com/AceReport/Show/arthroscopic-bankart-repair-vs-immobilization-for-1st-episode-of-anterior-shoulder-dislocation

Low Back Pain – Conservative treatments for chronic non-specific low back pain: time course network meta-analysis https://bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/5/1/e001908

Adolescent Lumbar Spondylolysis – Why wait? Immediate physical therapy https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2026/06/22/why-wait-immediate-physical-therapy-for-adolescent-lumbar-spondylolysis/

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction – Surgical caseload and annual volume influence cartilage treatment strategies https://esskajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ksa.12776

The FORCe Study – Longitudinal cohort study of the association between labral pathology and cartilage loss in high-impact athletes https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/06/17/bjsports-2025-110981

Multi-Ligament Knee Injuries – Injury mechanism varies by injury category: Video analysis from the National Football League https://esskajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ksa.70025

All-Inside Meniscal Repair – Polyether ether ketone versus all-suture anchors: No difference in failure rates at three-follow-up in a retrospective cohort of 2253 patients https://esskajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ksa.70026

Implant Survival – Uncemented Oxford mobile-bearing unicompartmental knee arthroplasty demonstrates superior long-term implant survival compared to cemented fixation in patients under 60 years https://esskajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ksa.70163

Fixation Decisions – Lower septic revision rates following cementless compared with cemented robotic-assisted total knee arthroplasty using a single implant design https://boneandjoint.org.uk/Article/10.1302/0301-620X.108B7.BJJ-2025-1654.R1

Meniscus Tears – Professional soccer athletes: resect or repair? https://www.cartilagejournal.org/article/S2667-2545(22)00013-0/fulltext

Use of TXA – Tranexamic acid lowers transfusions and readmissions in high-risk total knee arthroplasty patients, but neurologic risks remain in patients with seizures or visual disturbances https://esskajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ksa.70124

Apophyseal Injuries –  Academy Football: Insights from 16,000 Player-Seasons https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2026/07/14/apophyseal-injuries-in-academy-football-insights-from-16000-player-seasons/

Foot and Ankle Injuries – Australian Research Related to Sporting and Musculoskeletal Injuries of the Foot and Ankle: A Bibliometric Analysis https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jfa2.70184

Plantar Heel Pain – Physiotherapy management https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1836955326000585

Calcaneal Fractures – Percutaneous management: evolution, indications, and surgical pearls https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/podiatry/clinical-insights/percutaneous-management-calcaneal-fractures-evolution-indications

RESOURCE ROUND UP

Websites, podcasts and resources you might find useful:

Heart BMJ Podcast: Can exercise lower your risk of AF? https://heartbmj.podbean.com/e/can-exercise-lower-your-risk-of-af/

JSSM Podcast – Can myocardial efficiency, assessed by echocardiography, help predict martial arts performance? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7omEn34iz0

JSSM Podcast – Blood flow restriction training improves body composition and athletic performance in youth soccer players but does the arterial occlusion pressure make a difference? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0Ow3yT0djg

Case Study – Goalkeeper: 9 weeks ago, heavy impact on football through posterior L shoulder fall whilst diving https://x.com/DrJN_SportsMed/status/2076620819501830298?s=20

Bone & Joint Journal Podcast – Rethinking anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention https://www.buzzsprout.com/225112/episodes/19390586

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Protecting Mental Health in Sport + Exercise Conference – August 17-18th 2026, Colorado Springs https://promiseconference.co.uk/product/promise-2026-delegate-ticket/

Head and Neck Ultrasound Workshop 2026 – 23 September 2026, 08:30 – 16:35, NCVO, London https://www.mybir.org.uk/l/s/community-event

BASEM Annual Conference 2026 – Nov 17 – 18, 2026, Londonhttps://basemconference.co.uk/

Dutch Conference of Sports & Exercise Medicine – Nov 26-27, Rotterdam https://www.sportgeneeskunde.com/dcsem/

The World Congress of Sports Physiotherapy – December 4–5, 2026, Bern https://wcspt.com/

Do let us know your feedback, and any suggestions you have for websites, apps or networks for inclusion in future bulletins.

DISCLAIMER: Horizons is intended as a helpful round-up for members of potentially interesting articles/opinions that have been shared online. SEMPRIS are not qualified to make/infer any clinical judgements, and the inclusion of content, events and resources does not imply endorsement.

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