Sports Injury Model For Effective Prevention, Diagnostic And Rehabilitation

Abstract

In order to develop a model for a safe and effective return to sport after injuries, it is important to identify the risk factors associated with the occurrence of an injury. For the first time, we introduce the Tensiomyography (TMG) in the field of sport injuries (SI), a non-invasive and selective tool for the assessment of skeletal muscle contractile properties. As a recommendation from former experiences, a FC Barcelona documented a Muscle Injuries Clinical Guide 3.0 that explicitly emphasizes the use of TMG for the follow-up of muscle functional recovery and to help decide when the athlete can return to play. PURPOSE: To develop a thigh SI prediction model and explore factors of safe return to play. METHODS: The ongoing research project aims to monitor SI epidemiology in Slovenian premium soccer clubs. We monitored TMG of vastus lateralis and medialis, rectus femoris, biceps femoris and semitendinosus of both legs; body characteristics (body height, mass and fat), motor tasks (strength endurance in hamstrings; explosive lower-body strength, flexibility of lower body). RESULTS: Based on 11 thigh SI we were able to predict four (sensitivity 27%, specificity 99%). When predicting only 6 biceps femoris hamstring SI we could predict 4 (sensitivity 80%, specificity 100%). The predictive factors were derived only from TMG parameters. It appears that the worst-case scenario for the SI occurrence of biceps femoris is it short TMG-derived contraction time, high biceps femoris tone and low lateral symmetry. Interestingly, there were no significant predictors from body characteristics and motor tasks. CONCLUSION: Twenty-seven percent of all thigh SI and 80% of hamstring SI could be predicted solely from simple-to-use and non-invasive TMG screening. It seems that short contraction time (previously linked to high proportion of type II muscle fibers) and high muscle tone are risk factor for hamstring injuries, especially where imbalances between both lateral sides were present. Supported by Slovenian Research Agency (research core funding no. L5-8245).