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PSCJ

Return to climbing after musculoskeletal injury: A scoping review of rehabilitation content, outcome measures and return to sport criteria.

16/10/2026

Lead author:
Uzo Ehiogu, St Marys University London 
Co-authors:
Georgia Wells , Royal Orthopaedic Hospital Birmingham Education and Training Department
Matthew Buckthorp, St Marys University Centre for Applied Performance Sciences
Stephen Patterson, St Marys University Centre for Applied Performance Sciences

ABSTRACT

Climbing has a well-documented upper limb injury burden. However, the content of rehabilitation programmes, outcome measures and the return-to-sport (RTS) criteria after injury is poorly defined. This review investigated the content of rehabilitation programmes and examined outcome measures used in climbing research to assess its ability to inform rehabilitation progression and RTS decision making using a COSMIN-aligned approach for return to climbing after musculoskeletal injury (MSKI).

View PDF: Ehiogu. Return to climbing after MSK Injury.pdf
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