Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center

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Information about project titled 'Classification of hamstring injuries'

Classification of hamstring injuries

Details about the project - category Details about the project - value
Project status: Ongoing
Project manager: Arnlaug Wangensteen
Supervisor(s): Johannes Tol, Roald Bahr
Coworker(s): Bruce Hamilton, Robbart van Linschoten, Erik Witvrouw, Emad Almusa, Rodney Whitely, Mohammed Farooq, Sirine Boukarroum

Description

Acute hamstring muscle injuries represent the most prevalent non-contact muscle injury reported in sports with high speed running and power involved or in dancers due to the extreme requirements on range of motion. Despite the high prevalence and a rapidly expanding body of literature investigating acute hamstring muscle injuries, the incidence and re-injury rates have not improved over the last three decades, causing a significant loss of time from competition. The diagnosis and prognosis of time to return to sports (RTS) after acute hamstring injuries are mainly based on clinical findings from patient history and clinical examinations, supplemented by radiological examinations, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound. However, the most accurate diagnostic and prognostic algorithm of clinical evaluation and radiological imaging is still unknown.

 

Aim

To investigate 1) the location, 2) the severity, and 3) the timing of re-injuries on MRI

 

Methods

Male athletes, 18-50 years of age, sustaining a posterior thigh injury (potential hamstring strain) are recruited at the walk-in clinic at Aspetar where they undergo a standardized assessment procedure including patient history, clinical examinations and MRI.

In study II, athletes with MRI-confirmed re-injury in the same leg within ≤365 days after RTS will be included. Categorical grading and standardized MRI-parameters of the index injury and re-injury will be scored by a single radiologist. To determine the location of the re-injury, axial and coronal views of the index injury and re-injury were directly compared on fluid sensitive image sequenses.