Abstract
Objective: To find the frequency of stingers
syndrome in different contact sports and its effect on
return to play.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study was
conducted at the University of Lahore from November
2019 to April 2020 on players of rugby, basketball,
and hockey. It included 135 athletes between the ages
of 18 and 40 years, of both genders with a minimum 1
year of sports experience. A Postseason questionnaire
was used to obtain data. SPSS 25.0 was used for data
analysis.
Results: Highest frequency of stingers was seen in
athletes of rugby (n = 32; 71.1%) followed by
basketball (n = 29; 64.4%) and hockey (n = 27; 60%).
We found that 44.3% of all players had a history of
stinger and 42 (35.6%) of them returned to play on the
same day with the majority of symptoms resolving in
less than 24 hours. Association of frequency of stinger
with return to play was statistically significant (p <
0.001).
Conclusion: There is a high frequency of stingers in
rugby, basketball, and hockey with greatest number of
cases in rugby. Majority of the players return to play
on the same day. A high association was seen between
the occurrence of stingers and duration of return to
play.
Keywords: Athletic injuries, brachial plexopathy,
peripheral nerve injuries, sports medicine, stingers.
