Regional Rehabilitation Unit Halton, Aylesbury, UK.
Sports Science and Medicine Department, Southampton Football Club, Southampton, UK.
BMJ Case Rep. 2021 Nov 19;14(11):e241365. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2020-241365.
Hamstring injuries are the most common muscle injuries in elite football. Injuries involving the intramuscular tendon are considered more significant, with longer return to play (RTP) times and an increased risk of reinjury. MRI is the gold standard investigation for muscle injuries, but initial findings cannot accurately determine RTP times. The role of MRI in monitoring muscle and tendon healing is not well described. We present three cases of hamstring injuries with intramuscular tendon involvement, illustrating the changes seen on MRI during progressive tendon healing and describing how we utilised this information to inform safe rehabilitation progression. We conclude that intramuscular hamstring tendon healing can be accurately seen on sequential MRI scans and that this information, when combined with traditional rehabilitation markers in and elite sport environment, can be utilised by clinicians to determine the earliest but safe RTP.
腘绳肌损伤是精英足球运动员中最常见的肌肉损伤。涉及肌内肌腱的损伤被认为更为严重，恢复运动时间（RTP）更长，再次受伤的风险增加。MRI 是肌肉损伤的金标准检查，但初步结果不能准确确定 RTP 时间。MRI 在监测肌肉和肌腱愈合中的作用尚未得到很好的描述。我们介绍了 3 例伴有肌内肌腱受累的腘绳肌损伤病例，说明了在进行性肌腱愈合过程中 MRI 上观察到的变化，并描述了我们如何利用这些信息来告知安全康复进展。我们得出结论，连续 MRI 扫描可准确显示肌内腘绳肌腱愈合情况，并且在精英运动环境中，结合传统康复标志物的信息，临床医生可以利用这些信息来确定最早但安全的 RTP。
