CHAMPS (Children’s Health, Athletic Medicine and Performance in Sports) focuses on the special needs of young athletes. Children’s bones, tendons and muscles grow at different rates, making youngsters more susceptible to certain types of injuries during different stages of development. CHAMPS contains the following three components:

1. Health: Specialists work with families to teach children healthy eating habits so they maintain appropriate body weight. Children also learn the correct way to exercise and the need for both aerobic and anaerobic exercise.
    
2. Athletic Medicine: Sports injury prevention is a key goal for CHAMPS. Staff members give seminars on techniques to prevent common injuries associated with specific sports. If injuries occur, orthopedic physicians diagnose and treat injuries with casts, braces, exercise or surgery to repair injuries to bones, growth plates, ligaments and muscles.
    
3. Performance: Training to develop proper techniques for specific sports helps children and adolescents decrease the risk of injury and enhance their athletic performance.

ORTHOPEDIC RESEARCH

Orthopedic Research Leads to Advances in Treatment The Orthopedic Research Program has four key components and all eight orthopedists in the division participate in clinical trials and research activities. The four areas of research include:

1. Orthopedic Biomechanics Research Center
   • Studies conducted in the Biomechanics Lab include testing new spinal implant constructs for scoliosis and different pins used for fracture repair.
   • Biomechanical evaluation of a new technique for rotator cuff repairs.
      
2. Center for Spinal Deformities
   • Rady Children’s is the primary site for a multicenter, international study on the outcome of thoracoscopic scoliosis surgery. This 10-year study contains one of the most advanced databases on scoliosis in the world.
   • Evaluation of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) in aiding spinal fusion.
      
3. Motion Laboratory 
   • Analysis of pitching motion to understand causes of injuries and train young pitchers in proper body mechanics to avoid injury.
   • Analysis of the effects of trunk motion before and after spinal fusion operations
   • Evaluation of gait in patients with cerebral palsy to make surgical analysis based on the findings. 
      
4. Center for Orthopedic Outcomes
   • Studies on outcome of surgical correction of residual hip dysplasia
   • Analysis of the epidemiology of a variety of fracture patterns.
   • Study of surgical treatment of foot and spinal deformity in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients.

“Most children and adolescents are referred to us because they’ve been injured,” said Dr. Henry Chambers, director of CHAMPS and medical director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory. “After treating the injury, we work with patients to restore their strength and function and help them prevent re-injury when they return to sports or the playground.”

The Motion Analysis Laboratory at Rady Children’s Hospital tracks a young pitcher’s movement to determine how to prevent injury and improve pitching performance.

Additional Resources: Juvenile osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) Study Group of North America (JUPITOOR Project) website

STRETCHING & EXERCISES:

• Back Stretch Exercises
• Exercises to Improve Posture
• Hand Exercises
• Lower Extremity Stretches
• Neck Stretches
• Prone Back Stretches
• Quad/Hip/Knee Stretching Exercises

Call (858) 966-6789 for more information or to refer a patient to CHAMPS.

Children's Specialists Division of Orthopedics/Scoliosis

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