• June 30, 2026 | 1:15 PM - 2:10 PM
• PCC,108B

“Tales from the Pit”: High-Risk/HALO Cases in Sports Medicine

Although a majority of sports- and recreation-related injuries involve musculoskeletal injuries, a small subset represents high acuity, low occurrence (HALO) scenarios in sports medicine. The concept of HALO encounters is highly relevant to the practice of sports medicine requiring specialized skills and knowledge to optimize patient outcomes in potentially catastrophic and high-risk medicolegal situations. Subtle clinical presentations of HALO encounters pose a significant challenge to even experienced clinicians. The professional practice gap exists in the recognition and timely management of these critical, low-frequency but high-impact scenarios. Clinical cases discussion is essential to maintain readiness to minimize the risk of litigation.

Learning Objectives - Recognize and understand subtle clinical findings in ten (10) high-risk/High Acuity Low Occurrence (HALO) clinical conditions often missed in the sports medicine setting referred to the emergency department (ED).
- Identify key clinical scenarios with significant medicolegal risk if misdiagnosed, delayed or mismanaged.
- Apply knowledge to make appropriate evidence-based decision-making strategies regarding management and care of high-risk clinical pathology.

Keywords: Medicolegal, High-Acuity Low Occurrence, Litigation