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Climber’s Pulley Injuries

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Sports Injuries of the Hand and Wrist

Part of the book series: In Clinical Practice ((ICP))

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Abstract

Handgrip techniques in modern rock climbing generate climbing-related injuries especially at the tendon sheath level. The most frequent injury is an A2 pulley rupture. The end result is bowstringing of the flexor tendon and may be confirmed by imaging. Surgery when required is usually an extensor retinaculum graft to reconstruct the ruptured pulley. Surgery often results in a satisfactory outcome, and patients usually return to their previous climbing performance. Further education of the patient about the injury and simple measures of warm-up may prevent recurrence of injury.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinique de Chirurgie Réparatrice de la Main et des Brûlés SOS Main Grenoble, CHU de Grenoble Hôpital A. Michalon, Grenoble, France

    François Moutet, M. Bouyer, Denis Corcella, Alexandra Forli & Alessandro Semere

Authors
  1. François Moutet
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  2. M. Bouyer
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  3. Denis Corcella
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  4. Alexandra Forli
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  5. Alessandro Semere
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to François Moutet .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Upper Limb Unit, Wrightington Hospital, Wigan, UK

    Mike Hayton

  2. Upper Limb Unit, Wrightington Hospital, Wigan, UK

    Chye Yew Ng

  3. Upper Limb Unit, Wrightington Hospital, Wigan, UK

    Lennard Funk

  4. Upper Limb Unit, Wrightington Hospital, Wigan, UK

    Adam Watts

  5. Upper Limb Unit, Wrightington Hospital, Wigan, UK

    Mike Walton

Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

Questions

  1. 1.

    What are the three main grips used by rock climbers?

  2. 2.

    What is the most commonly injured pulley in climbers?

  3. 3.

    Majority of pulley injuries occur during outdoor competition? True or false.

Answers

  1. 1.

    The “hook” grip , the open or “slope” grip and the cling or “crimp” grip .

  2. 2.

    A2.

  3. 3.

    False. Over 60% occur during indoor practice.

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Moutet, F., Bouyer, M., Corcella, D., Forli, A., Semere, A. (2019). Climber’s Pulley Injuries. In: Hayton, M., Ng, C., Funk, L., Watts, A., Walton, M. (eds) Sports Injuries of the Hand and Wrist. In Clinical Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02134-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02134-4_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02133-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02134-4

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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