Position de consensus: apport des examens biologiques dans le diagnostic de surentraînement

Objectives. - To provide a complementary tool to clinical examination for the sport physician and to determine the indications,and the limits of the prescription of the blood analyses performedat rest in the athletes, who present, clinical signs evocative of overtraining. Curent knowledge. - This position of consensus was established following a literature review on the hormonal, haematology, immunological and metabolic aspects, and the personal experience of authors. The clinical examination and particularly the medical interview are essential before any biological application. Pre-analytical and analytical conditions of sampling have to be known and standardized. The rules of biological analysis prescriptions are discussed in order to answer the following questions: Why to prescribe? When and how to prescribe? Which examinations to prescribe? Conclusion. - There is no pathognomonic biochemical analysis relevant to the. state of overtraining. However, some of several biological analyses appear relevant to us to carry out the differential diagnosis and/or to characterize the triggering or favouring factors of overtraining. (c) 2006 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits reserve's.