Managing the Impact of Volleyball-Related Injuries

11/6/2023

Volleyball is a physically demanding sport with high participation rates globally. Following proper training and conditioning techniques can help prevent injury, but nonetheless, orthopedic injuries remain common in the sport. 

Ankle Sprains
The most common volleyball-related injury is the ankle sprain. In a sport filled with sudden lateral movements and occurrences of landing on other players' feet, there is plenty of opportunity for ligaments in the ankle to become stretched or torn. Sufficient rehab and rest under the supervision of a medical professional is recommended, as recurrent ankle sprains are quite common.

For greater instability issues, surgeries such as the Brostrom procedure help tighten or repair the anterior talofibular ligament. Innovative solutions such as the TruShot® All-in-One Tissue Fixation System may be used for such procedures.

Knee Injuries
Repetitive and explosive jumping and landing motions in volleyball can lead to knee injuries, such as Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tears, meniscus tears, and patellar tendinitis. Patellar Tendinitis, stretching exercises, and periods of rest can help. For certain injuries, surgical intervention may be necessary. 

Depending on the condition of the native ACL, one of several reconstruction procedures may be recommended – including All-Inside ACL Reconstruction. Reinforced Bioinductive Implants, such as BioBrace®, may be helpful to strengthen the repair and optimize healing. Buttons such as the Infinity™ Femoral Adjustable Loop Button provide the ability to lengthen the graft loop and reposition the graft within the femoral and tibial tunnels.

Cartilage lesions may also be present. For procedures that require cartilage healing and regeneration, CartiMax® provides a combination of viable cartilage fibers and cartilage allograft matrix that forms a biologically-active scaffold with putty-like handling characteristics.

Shoulder Injuries
Overhead actions, such as serving, spiking, and blocking, put strain on the shoulder. In certain cases, surgical repair may be necessary. All-suture anchors, such as the Y-Knot® Anchor, offer small size for less bone removal while still providing strong fixation. The Argo Knotless® Suture Anchor offers consistent suture tension from insertion through deployment. BioBrace® also has applications in some rotator cuff procedures.

Finger and Wrist Sprains
The force from blocking and spiking can lead to wrist sprains. Setting, digging, and blocking also presents opportunity for finger sprains. Proper rest and rehab under the supervision of a medical professional is recommended. If tendons are ruptured or cut, surgical techniques ranging from stitching to anchor fixation with the TruShot® Tissue Fixation System may be required.

One Source of Solutions
Volleyball is a sport with an overall low incidence of injury, but nonetheless common injuries can and will occur. CONMED offers medical solutions to treat these common injuries to help surgeons get their patient athletes back to the game. View our Orthopedic solutions here.


1 K203267 – 510(k) Clearance Letter - The BioBrace® Implant. Based on preclinical animal data