Return to play after treating acute muscle injuries in elite football players with radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy

• Published in: Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research 2021-12, Vol.16 (1), p.708-708, Article 708
• Main Authors: Morgan, James P M, Hamm, Mario, Schmitz, Christoph, Brem, Matthias H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute muscle injury; Athletes; Athletic Injuries - therapy; Contraindications; Contusions; Cryotherapy; Extracorporeal shock wave therapy; Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy; Football; Football players; Football teams; Humans; Injuries; Lithotripsy; Manipulative therapy; Muscles - injuries; Orthopedics; Pain; Physical therapy; Rehabilitation; Retrospective Studies; Return to Sport; Return-to-play; Rupture; Seasons; Shock waves; Sports injuries; Ultrasonic imaging; Weightlifting
• ISSN: 1749-799X; 1749-799X
• DOI: 10.1186/s13018-021-02853-0

To compare lay-off times achieved by treating acute muscle injuries in elite football players with a multimodal therapy approach that includes a specific protocol of almost daily radial extracorporeal shock wave therapy (rESWT) with corresponding data reported in the literature. We performed a retrospective analysis of treatments and recovery times of muscle injuries suffered by the players of an elite football team competing in the first/second German Bundesliga during one of the previous seasons. A total of 20 acute muscle injuries were diagnosed and treated in the aforementioned season, of which eight (40%) were diagnosed as Type 1a/muscular tightness injuries, five (25%) as Type 2b/muscle strain injuries, four (20%) as Type 3a/partial muscle tear injuries and three (15%) as contusions. All injuries were treated with the previously mentioned multimodal therapy approach. Compared with data reported by Ekstrand et al. (Br J Sports Med 47:769-774, 2013), lay-off times (median/mean) were shortened by 54% and 58%, respectively, in the case of Type 1a injuries, by 50% and 55%, respectively, in the case of Type 2b injuries as well as by 8% and 21%, respectively, in the case of Type 3a injuries. No adverse reactions were observed. Overall, the multimodal therapy approach investigated in this study is a safe and effective treatment approach for treating Type 1a and 2b acute muscle injuries amongst elite football players and may help to prevent more severe, structural muscle injuries.