Medical Advisory Committee

(IRB.COM) Thursday 1 January 2009


 
 

The Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) IRB is made up of Medical Officers from the major Unions who have advised the IRB on medical matters for a number of years.  The MAC meet biannually and decide medical policies on player welfare.  Because of the rapid expansion of the game and the more rapid advances in medical science it was decided to appoint a Medical Officer who took up office early in 2006.  The new appointee Professor Mick Molloy had an association with rugby, both as a player and as Medical Officer to the Irish Rugby Football Union for two decades.  He had also been Dean of the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine, a joint Faculty between the College of Physicians of Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. 

The IRB MAC had felt for some time a consensus document on injury definition and data collection was necessary.  An expert group including members of the MAC drew up this document in early 2006 and the document was subsequently published jointly in the British Journal of Sports Medicine and Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine in May 2007.  This consensus document was intended for use in all injury surveys in Rugby Union.  Definitions and methodologies presented in this consensus statement for Rugby Union are similar to those proposed for football.  The option of the polls presented in this consensus statement should ensure that more consistent and comparable results will be obtained from studies of injuries in Rugby Union.

The consensus statement has been used in all injury surveys carried out during IRB competitions over the past two years.  Injury surveys carried out include:

  • WRWC carried out in 2006 was published jointly in the British Journal of Sports Medicine and the Clinical Journal Sports Medicine June 2008. 
  • RWC 2007 injury survey published in British Journal of Sports Medicine and the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine June 2008.
  • U 20 Rugby World Championship Chile and Wales 2008 when injury surveys completed will be included with a similar survey in 2009 on the same Championship in Kenya and Japan.  These studies will then be published.
  • Injury risks associated with tackling in rugby union published BJSM December 2008.  This project was funded by the IRB.
  • Impact of the IRB Experimental Law Variations on the incidence and nature of match injuries in Southern Hemisphere professional rugby union.  Accepted for publication SAMJ
  • Comparison of the incidence and nature of Rugby Injuries sustained on Artificial Turf and Grass.  This study was conducted by HKRU and the RFU over a two year period with the first year being completed and publication taking place at the end of year two.  We would hope to have this completed by May 2009 and subsequently published.           
  • 7’s Series and Mens/Womens World Cup 2008/09.  Studies using the IRB consensus document with two competitions already completed in Dubai and South Africa and all the others having injury surveys carried out including two world cups in the spring.
  • 2nd World Congress Sport Injury Prevention Tromso, Norway June 26 – 28 2008.  The IRB were co-sponsors with other major federations.  One afternoon of the conference related to injury prevention in Rugby Union.  Six presentations were made.  The IRB involvement was applauded by the other federations and it was a first major conference sponsored and contributed to by the IRB.  This helps to increase co-operation between the IRB and other major federations, a relationship of great importance in the future. 
  • 3rd International Conference on Concussion in Sport October 2008. The IRB were one of four major federations sponsoring this conference.  The conference took place at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.  The leading experts on sports concussion made presentations on day one and day two involved the collected group of experts to draw up a consensus document.  The IRB Chief Medication Officer MG Molloy represented the organisation.  The document when finalised will be published in the BJSM and CJSS and other appropriate publications.
  • Catastrophic injury in Rugby Union is the level of risk acceptable?  Published BJSM December 2008.  The IRB and RFU contributed to the cost of this publication. 
  • A meeting of Experts in Catastrophic Spinal Cord Injury took place in London November 2008.  The group finalised a consensus document on catastrophic spinal cord injuries for use in a worldwide survey.  A joint conference including the IRB, RFU and MACSIP in association with experts in the care of patients with spinal injuries.  Presentations were made by IRB representatives outlining the IRB role and measures which have proved successful in reducing the incidence of these injuries.
  • The IRB introduced scrum law changes in January 2007 based on medical evidence.  The interim evaluation of the effect of a new scrum law on neck and back injuries in rugby union was published in the BJSM in May 2008.  The first year results validate new law initiative to help prevent injuries and further research is necessary to provide more evidence.
  • Scrum Research.  A scrum research programme has been agreed with Bath University with input from the leading experts in scrummaging throughout the world. This is a two year programme which will involve biomechanical evaluation of forces in the scrum at all levels of the game. 
  • The liaison set up with other sporting federations and academic institutions will allow the IRB to continue research into the causes and prevention of injury. 
  • Educational programmes through the IRB Rugby Ready initiative and the collaboration of Unions worldwide has resulted in increased awareness and the introduction of injury prevention programmes at all levels of the game. 
  • Continuing research and injury surveys allow us to inform the laws project group and bring about law changes as necessary.