“Usually, at large sporting events, we assist athletes and staff and ensure the safety of the entire public. As a rule, these are our assistance tasks. This time, however, we were left without the audience. But… ‘we won’ a pandemic” . The irony of the words of Rodrigo Moreira , a specialist doctor in Sports Medicine and responsible for the Hospital da Luz Lisboa team at the Millennium Estoril Open 2021, is easily explained: with the event almost over, the doctor knows that everything remains under control and, even now, going as planned. Today, it is already certain that this was, for Hospital da Luz Lisboa, another successful partnership. The clinical responsibility to prepare and ‘roll’ the biggest tennis tournament in Portugal in a time of pandemic was not an easy task. It is not that Rodrigo Moreira is not already used to the demands of the health authorities at sporting events - after all, as he is keen to point out, in addition to being a specialist in Sports Medicine at Hospital da Luz Lisboa, he is also a doctor at the Portuguese Football Federation. “Fortunately, during most of this pandemic period, football sporting events continued to exist, naturally complying with all safety rules to prevent the spread of the virus. This means that I already have some experience of this new reality” , he explains. But there are differences between these events and this Millennium Estoril Open: “For example, and since it is more than a week in a row with training and games, we have to make sure that we are all well. Therefore, the entire clinical team is tested at COVID-19 every two days” . There is a very demanding strategy from ATP - the organization that is responsible for the world tennis competition - “that we have to cross with the rules of our Directorate-General for Health” , he says. And all in all, “it ends up making this a different experience, within the new reality that I already know” . Intense days So, what does a doctor do at an event like this? This is the question that is easiest to answer, says, with a smile, the leader of the HL Lisboa team in the tournament. “Each of these sports organizations must have the support of physiotherapists, massage therapists, nurses and, of course, doctors. In our case, we are available to athletes and staff, either on the premises or in the hotel where they are all installed, to provide the necessary health care” , he begins by explaining. All of this includes, he adds, "any situation that requires clinical involvement" . “Unlike other sports, ATP does not have a fixed place to play its games. He travels from country to country, in constant transit, and, although the athletes have their own physiotherapists, the organization does not have a team of doctors or equipment to carry out more specific tests” . It was this response that, since the beginning of the tournament, the three doctors of the Hospital da Luz Lisboa team - Ricardo Figueira, João Morais and Rodrigo himself - have already been giving. Between pathologies of overload and traumatic injuries resulting from training or games, such as ankle sprains or low back pain, a little bit of everything has passed through their hands. “In addition, we must not forget that, in addition to high-level professional athletes, they are also people like us. They may have a headache, a constipation, symptoms of some tension and stress… We are monitoring all these situations” , explains the specialist at HL Lisboa. And up to this point, the balance could not be more positive. “It has been an intense day. The situations that emerged were successfully resolved and allowed almost all athletes to recover their physical capabilities” . To this end, the three doctors have had the support of physiotherapists, masseuses and nurses from Hospital da Luz Lisboa in the enclosure and in the tournament hotel, as well as from the team seconded for this purpose in the hospital itself, led by internist Luís Duarte Costa and by the imaging doctor Augusto Gaspar . The HLL team at the service of the Millennium Estoril Open, which has a total of about 20 health professionals, also includes specialists in infection control, led by the intensive care physician Carlos Palos, whose task is to maintain all the circuits of the competition ' from COVID-19. Sports Medicine al HL Lisboa: the next bet with a future With the Millennium Estoril Open 2021 entering its final phase, for Rodrigo Moreira, this is yet another moment to demonstrate that “services of excellence, such as those at Hospital da Luz, must be associated with reference partners” . And being with "the best in world tennis means that we have the quality and safety that is demanded of those who need the best assistance in terms of Sports Medicine" , he reinforces, concluding: "We see this partnership as something we want to be involved in!”. That is why, when this stage is closed, the time will be to look to the future. And that is what Rodrigo Moreira is already working on. “Sports medicine has long ceased to be just a medical specialty to treat injuries for professional athletes. Prevention, diagnosis, treatment and optimization of sports performance - today, we work in many areas and with different perspectives of approach to the practitioner of physical exercise, the amateur athlete and the professional athlete " , explains the doctor, adding: "Why, Sports Medicine from Hospital da Luz Lisboa is precisely preparing to give this comprehensive and comprehensive answer” . That is, "we are creating all the conditions, in an exclusive and dedicated sports medicine center, to provide clinical and technical support to those who come to us, whatever the type of physical exercise they intend to do, or the sport practiced" .
