The ISEH's current sports injury research focuses on joint preservation and tendinopathy. We have a particular interest in pathologies around the lower limb, especially the knee and the hip, led by the research team of Professor Fares Haddad.
For example in knee research there are several on going streams of research, which include:
• meniscal preservation and replacement
• optimal imaging for knee injuries
• the natural history of meniscal and cruciate injuries.
We have large data-rich cohorts of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, ACL reconstructions, revisions and meniscal repairs; and we are constantly adding to this data and improving the understanding of these conditions.
We work collaboratively with national and international groups and have a growing reputation as a centre of excellence. One such example is our work in tendinopathy research, where we have created a ‘think tank’ of diverse experts to understand the natural history, diagnosis and optimum management of the condition. We are working with several international groups, such as Professor Håkan Alfredson in Sweden, and are currently refashioning and optimising clinical pathways, by examining Achilles tendinopathy in the first instance.
To develop this project we have created a National Tendinopathy Centre for multicentre collaboration and to help determine the ideal patient pathway for diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
We have a keen interest in ensuring people maintain active throughout their lives and have a research group examining joint replacements in the highly active general population. We are especially keen to understand the effects on functional outcomes and lifestyle after such interventions and have devised several unique techniques and scores to evaluate this in more detail.