The Role of the Hand Surgery Consultant in the Care of the Hockey Athlete

Ice hockey is a high-speed sport played on a slippery ice surface, using sharp skate blades, rigid sticks with a hard rubber puck, and allowing full-force physical contact that includes body checking and fighting. Although many of the same injuries to the hand and wrist occur that are seen in other sports, there is a higher frequency of certain injuries in the hockey athlete due to the forces involved, the way the hockey stick is gripped, torqued, and used, and the fact that players can slash one another with their sticks. Beyond timely and accurate management of the injury itself, the role of the consultant hand surgeon in hockey encompasses mastery of the intangible skills in the art and humanity of medical care. Injury to the hockey athlete sets in motion a dynamic process that involves many stakeholders who each require your knowledge of how this will affect the hockey athlete’s immediate and long-term health, how long they may be out of competition, and the kind of treatments, splints and equipment modifications that could help foster the earliest return-to-play in a safe manner. The consultant hand surgeon needs the ability to communicate information at a high level to team physicians and trainers while remaining nimble enough to simplify that information for general managers, coaches, agents, and athletes. The role demands commitment in time and flexibility, remaining open to gray areas in treatment options, possessing a creative mindset for problem-solving, and the ability to quickly assimilate vast amounts of information to provide a risk assessment of short and long-term implications the injury presents to both the player and the team.