ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of clavicle fractures in professional and amateur cyclists and evaluate the factors associated with its occurrence. Method: One hundred and forty professional and amateur athletes were interviewed through a questionnaire regarding age and time practicing bicycling, among others. Results: Among the 140 evaluated cyclists, there were 19 (13.5%) clavicle fractures associated with this sports modality. Conclusion: There was a positive association between time practicing bicycling and frequency of clavicle fractures, as well as between hours of weekly training and clavicle fractures. Level of Evidence IV, Case-Series.

PURPOSE:To evaluate the protective effects of chilling the bile ducts with cold (5°C) 5% glucose solution (GS) during radiofrequency (RF) administration.METHODS:Twenty male pigs (3 mos. old; 25-30 kg) were subjected to RF delivery with chilling (experimental group, N=10) or without chilling (control group, N=10). Half of the animals in each group were euthanized immediately after the operation, and half were euthanized one week later. The following histological variables in relation to the bile ducts were evaluated by a pathologist (blind examiner): degenerative changes to the epithelium; epithelial necrosis; ulceration, regenerative changes of the epithelium; polymorphonuclear neutrophil infiltration; and thermal effects.RESULTS: The experimental group (88 bile ducts examined) showed reduced thermal damage relative to the control group (86 bile ducts examined) as demonstrated by significant differences in the following histopathological parameters: epithelial detachment of biliary epithelium (84.1% vs. 59.3%; p<0.006); elongation/palisade arrangement of nuclei (65.1% vs. 87.5%; p<0.001); pseudo-goblet cells (32.9% vs. 56.8%; p<0.001).CONCLUSION: Infusion of 5% glucose solution (5°C) has a protective effect on bile ducts subjected to heat (95-110°C, 12 min) from radiofrequency thermal ablation device.