Healthpoint and Manchester City again joined forces to hold the third edition of the Sports Medicine Summit in Abu Dhabi in November, providing a platform for the world’s leading sports medicine experts to network and share knowledge of best practices, current thinking and innovations in sports injury treatment.

The comprehensive full-day educational event boasted a multidisciplinary team of speakers including experts from Manchester City, the current Premier League champions in the UK. Members from the Club’s sport science and physiotherapy teams discussed how they work with players to maximize peak performance, and the interdisciplinary approach needed to get professional footballers with musculoskeletal Injuries back on to the pitch.

Dr. Jose Lopez, CEO of Healthpoint, a Mubadala Healthcare provider, said: “This summit has become an important event on the continuing medical education calendar locally and internationally. In the UAE, the country’s leadership encourages everyone to get moving as a strategy to improve our health, so the demand for sports medicine, whether at an elite level for professional sports teams in the region, or on an individual patient basis, will also be driving growth in our field.”

A popular focus area was anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, which is one of the most common forms of knee injury.

Among the experts discussing this topic was Healthpoint’s Dr. Sebastian Orduna, a specialist orthopedic surgeon, who gave and overview of the new ACL construction techniques and stressed that surgeons should master all of the possible techniques and what individual factors in patients determined the most suitable procedure for them.  

Healthpoint’s Head of Physiotherapy Azzam Kamal, meanwhile, stressed the importance of waiting at least nine months after ACL surgery before returning to sport, and the vital tests that should be given before the patient returns to sport, so as to reduce the risk of reinjury.

Presentations to the 150 delegates in attendance covered sports injuries in adults and children and topics included coping with concussions, rehabilitation techniques, spine stabilization and looking after the lower spine in footballers, as well as preventing and treating specific sports injuries and orthopedic problems.

 “Dr Max Sala, Head of Sports Medicine, Manchester City FC, said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Healthpoint again on this important summit. It is knowledge-sharing events like these that continue to inspire innovation and raise the standards of sports medicine internationally.”

Since 2014, Healthpoint has been the regional healthcare partner of Manchester City and has seen many exciting collaborations. Knowledge-sharing sessions have taken place at City Football Academy and Healthpoint is a proud partner of City Football School’s Healthy Lifestyle initiative, which educates and inspires schoolchildren in the region to make healthier choices.