Adductor Injuries in the National Basketball Association: Return to Play and Player Performance

Abstract

To determine the incidence of adductor injuries in National Basketball Association (NBA) athletes, as well as determine return to play (RTP) timing. Additionally, we aimed to evaluate the effect of adductor injury on game availability and performance following RTP. All players with in-game adductor injuries which were publicly recorded from the 1999-00 to 2017-18 NBA seasons were eligible for inclusion. For all confirmed cases, player demographics and information regarding career history were tabulated. Injury incidence and RTP timing were evaluated, and comparisons were made using injury characteristics and player demographics. Game availability (number of games played/season and number of minutes played/game), and player performance (Player Efficiency Rating [PER]), were evaluated pre-injury vs. post-RTP. Player availability and performance were also compared to an age, BMI, position and experience matched control group of players who did not sustain an adductor injury. We identified 55 adductor injuries (50 strains/ 5 tears), with an overall incidence of 2.9 ± 3.3 cases per season (median [IQR]: 1 [0.5-5]). On average, players injured were 28.1 ± 3.8 years old, and had 6.3 ± 3.9 seasons of NBA experience. Guards were injured the most frequently (54.3%), followed by forwards (23.9%), and centers (21.7%). The average height and weight of injured players was 78.1 ± 3.9 inches and 218.3 ± 31.4 pounds, respectively. There were no differences in any demographic variables between athletes who suffered only a single adductor injury (n=38, 82.6%), versus those who suffered multiple (n=8, 17.4%; all P ≥ 0.19 for demographic variables). All players were able to RTP following a first-time adductor injury, after missing 9.1 ± 11.7 games (median [IQR]: 4 [2-11.5]) and 19.3 ± 21.7 days (median [IQR]: 11 [4-24.5]). Additionally, RTP time following a tear was greater than four times longer for games missed (P < 0.001), and greater than 3.5 times longer for days missed (P < 0.001), when compared to RTP following a strain (Table 2). Sustaining an adductor injury did not significantly affect PER, games played/season, nor minutes played/game, when comparing players pre- to post-injury seasons (P = 0.31, 0.18, and 0.41, respectively). No differences in player efficiency or availability were found when comparing injured players to matched controls who did not sustain an adductor injury, (P = 0.59 for PER, 0.62 for games played per season, and 0.55 for minutes per game). Adductor injuries are uncommon in NBA athletes, occurring with a frequency of approximately two to three instances per season. However, a significant amount of time is required for recovery after an adductor injury which is affected by injury severity. Adductor injuries do not appear to affect NBA player performance or game availability following successful return to play.