Sideline documentation and its role in return to sport

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Athletic Training
• Clinical Documentation

Background:

• Effective management of athletic injuries in collegiate settings requires robust clinical information practices.
• Sideline documentation is crucial for timely and informed return to play decisions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify common sideline management practices for clinical information in collegiate athletics.
• To review existing literature on sideline documentation methods for injury management and return to play.

Main Methods:

• A survey was distributed to all Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) member schools regarding injury evaluation, medication, medical record access, and documentation.
• Literature searches were conducted on PubMed and SportDiscus for terms related to sports injuries, documentation, and return to play.

Main Results:

• All ACC schools dispense prescription medication on the sideline; however, four schools lack elemental documentation at that time.
• Four of 11 ACC schools utilize electronic medical records for injury documentation, and most have access to essential medical information.
• The literature search revealed limited systematic reports on sideline documentation systems, with only two articles on card-based injury tracking systems.

Conclusions:

• Systematic study and discussion of on-field documentation for return to play decision-making are insufficient.
• Most ACC institutions document athletic injury data on-site, followed by a full clinical note.
• Laminated card-based and handheld computer-based systems are presented as efficient methods for sideline documentation.