RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Early versus delayed lengthening exercises for acute hamstring injury in male athletes: a randomised controlled clinical trial
JF British Journal of Sports Medicine
JO Br J Sports Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine
SP bjsports-2020-103405
DO 10.1136/bjsports-2020-103405
A1 Robin Vermeulen
A1 Rod Whiteley
A1 Anne D van der Made
A1 Nicol van Dyk
A1 Emad Almusa
A1 Celeste Geertsema
A1 Stephen Targett
A1 Abdulaziz Farooq
A1 Roald Bahr
A1 Johannes L Tol
A1 Arnlaug Wangensteen
YR 2022
UL http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2022/03/24/bjsports-2020-103405.abstract
AB Background To evaluate the efficacy of early versus delayed introduction of lengthening (ie, eccentric strengthening) exercises in addition to an established rehabilitation programme on return to sport duration for acute hamstring injuries in a randomised controlled superiority trial.Methods 90 male participants (age: 18–36 years, median 26 years) with an MRI-confirmed acute hamstring injury were randomised into an early lengthening (at day 1 of rehabilitation) group or a delayed lengthening (after being able to run at 70% of maximal speed) group. Both groups received an established rehabilitation programme. The primary outcome was time to return to sport (ie, time from injury to full unrestricted training and/or match play). The secondary outcome was reinjury rate within 12 months after return to sport. Other outcomes at return to sport included the Askling H-test, hamstring strength, clinical examination and readiness questions.Results The return to sport in the early lengthening group was 23 (IQR 16–35) days and 33 (IQR 23–40) days in the delayed lengthening group. For return to sport (in days), the adjusted HR for the early lengthening group compared with the delayed lengthening group was 0.95 (95% CI 0.56 to 1.60, p=0.84). There was no significant difference between groups for reinjury rates within 2 months (OR=0.94, 95% CI 0.18 to 5.0, p=0.94), from 2 to 6 months (OR=2.00, 95% CI 0.17 to 23.3, p=0.58), and 6 to 12 months (OR=0.57, 95% CI 0.05 to 6.6, p=0.66).Conclusion Accelerating the introduction of lengthening exercises in the rehabilitation of hamstring injury in male athletes did not improve the time to return to sport nor the risk of reinjury.Data are available upon reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information. Data are available upon reasonable request.