Gymnastics Medicine Sports Medicine MD, Dr. Emily Sweeney, was recently awarded research funding by the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) Collaborative Research Network.
Emily Sweeney, MD recently received a grant to study physical therapy and spondylolysis (stress fracture in the spine). The grant is funded by the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) Collaborative Research Network. It is the 2022 Bridge to Future Funding for Clinical Trials Grant and the study is titled, “Back in the Game: An Immediate Functional Progression Program for Adolescent Athletes with Spondylolysis: A Multi-Center Randomized Pilot Trial.”
This study will be conducted at Children’s Hospital Colorado/University of Colorado School of Medicine where Dr. Sweeney works and at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. Over the next 2 years, adolescent athletes who are diagnosed with spondylolysis will be randomized to either receive the standard management of resting until symptoms resolve and then starting PT, or the participant will immediately start PT after diagnosis. The study team hopes to be able to get athletes, including gymnasts, back to sport quickly and also safely.