Abstract

BackgroundAcute injuries of the hamstring muscle complex (HMC) type 3b (interfascicle/bundle-tear) are frequently observed in various sports disciplines both in elite and recreational sport. The treatment of choice of acute HMC injuries type 3b is a progressive physiotherapeutic exercise programme. Besides this, there is currently only insufficient scientific evidence to support other treatment methods, including local infiltrations and injections of platelet-rich-plasma. Very recently, it was demonstrated that extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) may accelerate regeneration after acute skeletal muscle injury. The aim of the present study is to test the hypothesis that the combination of radial ESWT (rESWT) and a specific rehabilitation program (RP) is effective and safe in treatment of acute HMC injury type 3b in athletes, and is statistically significantly more effective than the combination of sham-rESWT and RP.MethodsWe will perform a double blind, randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial at the clinic KinEf Kinesiología Deportiva, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Forty patients with acute HMC injury type 3b will be randomly allocated to receive either rESWT (nine rESWT sessions; three sessions per week; 2500 radial extracorporeal shock waves (rESWs) per session; energy density depending on what the patient tolerates) or sham-rESWT. In addition, all patients will receive a specific rehabilitation program that will last for 8 weeks. The primary outcome measure will be the individual time (days) necessary to return to play. Secondary outcomes will include the presence or absence of reinjury during a time period of 6 months after inclusion into the study.DiscussionBecause of the lack of adequate treatment options for acute HMC injury type 3b in athletes and particularly the high reinjury rate, we hypothesize that the results of this trial will be of importance and have impact on clinical practice.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT03473899. Registered March 22, 2018.

Highlights

  • IntroductionAcute injuries of the hamstring muscle complex (HMC) type 3b (interfascicle/bundle-tear) are frequently observed in various sports disciplines both in elite and recreational sport

  • Acute injuries of the hamstring muscle complex (HMC) type 3b are frequently observed in various sports disciplines both in elite and recreational sport

  • The proposed study would have a power of less than 0.8 in finding a difference in treatment success between radial ESWT (rESWT) + rehabilitation program (RP) and sham-rESWT + RP for treating acute HMC injury type 3b if the percentage of patients with treatment success when treated with sham-rESWT + RP would be higher than 30%

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Summary

Introduction

Acute injuries of the hamstring muscle complex (HMC) type 3b (interfascicle/bundle-tear) are frequently observed in various sports disciplines both in elite and recreational sport. Acute injuries of the hamstring muscle complex (HMC) are frequently observed in various sports disciplines both in elite and recreational sport [1,2,3], and are the most common injury in soccer (e.g., [4, 5]). Despite intensive research into prevention and management of acute HMC injury during the last decade, epidemiological data show no decline in injury and reinjury rates [6] In this regard, 374 Danish elite soccer players were prospectively observed during a 12-month period, during which 46 first-time and eight recurrent HMC injuries were documented (incidence rates: 12.3% [first-time injuries] and 2% [recurrent injuries]) [7]. Two-thirds of the first-time injuries were categorized as moderate, with time to return to play between 8 and 28 days [7]

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