Sports injuries-from acute care to excellent functional outcome

With the increasing popularity of sports, the incidence of sports injuries is rising. The merger of the specialist in orthopedics and the specialist in trauma surgery has been a significant step towards optimal patient care, especially for treatment of sports injuries. Not all sports injuries require a high degree of specialization by the surgeon, nevertheless specialization is useful for a large proportion of sports injuries and may even be relevant for the outcome. In this article, common sports injuries are described using examples, which serve to increase awareness for these injuries and also illustrate that an adequate approach to sports injuries during the initial treatment leads to high-quality and economical patient care.