Achilles tendon disorders in the UCL cohort, comparison of Achilles tendinopathies and Achilles tendon ruptures in male professional football
| Tendinopathies | Partial or total ruptures | |
|---|---|---|
| Achilles tendon disorders, n (percentage of total number of injuries) | 194 (2.4) | 9 (0.1) |
| Reinjuries, n (%) | 53 (27) | 0 (0) |
| Lay-off days, mean±SD | 23±37 | 161±65 |
| Index injury | 20±34 | 161±65 |
| Reinjury | 32±44 | N/A |
| Lay-off days, median (Q1–Q3) | 10 (4–24) | 169 (110–189) |
| Index injury | 8 (4–21) | 169 (110–189) |
| Reinjury | 14 (4–37) | N/A |
| Injury rate* (95% CI) | 0.18 (0.16 to 0.21) | 0.01 (0.00 to 0.02) |
| Injury severity, n (%) | ||
| Slight/minimal (0–3 days) | 41 (21) | – |
| Mild (4–7 days) | 44 (23) | – |
| Moderate (8–28 days) | 70 (36) | – |
| Severe (>28 days) | 39 (20) | 9 (100) |
| Injury burden† (95% CI) | 4.24 (4.12 to 4.37) | 1.37 (1.30 to 1.44) |
| Days of absence/player/season, mean±SD | 1.0±10.5 | 0.3±7.8 |
| Season prevalence,‡ range | 2.1 to 5.1 | 0.0 to 0.5 |
*Injury rate expressed as the number of injuries/1000 h of total exposure.
†Injury burden expressed as the number of lay-off days/1000 h of total exposure (injury rate×mean absence).
‡Season prevalence expressed as the number of players with an injury in a season/total number of players in that season×100.
N/A, not applicable; Q1, 25th percentile (first quartile, 25%); Q3, 75th percentile (third quartile, 75%); UCL, UEFA Champions League.