Abstract des Autors

Modern extreme rock climbing has become a top performance sport in which enormous strains are exerted on the climbers' fingers. Since 1987 a work group of the Medical Commission of the Czech Mountaineering Association has been following up the health complaints and signs of finger injuries and changes in sports climbers taking part in extreme climbing competitions. Within three years, repeated examination of 50 climbers showed an increase in the number of finger joint deformities (fusiform swellings, nodes, flexion deformities) from 3.4 to 6.9 (p<0.001). The change in the number of painful fingers was not significant (1.7 vs. 1.5). Finger deformities were present in 37 climbers (74%) at the first examination and 45 climbers (80%) at the second. The results show that the development of chronic overuse damage in extreme rock climbing is a very fast process. Because of difficult treatment, prevention is of great importance. Verf.-Referat