A Hamstring Aside and Other Tales From World Cup South Africa

First comes the hamstring. Anders Hauge Engebretsen et al. of the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center recently published a prospective cohort study that investigates intrinsic risk factors for hamstring injuries among male soccer players. Within the framework of excellent study design, Engebretsen and his team recruited and inspected five hundred and eight professional caliber footballers for an entire season (Engebretsen AH et al., 2010). A sample size of this breadth typically generates wonderful statistical power. Tracing previous work of these same scientists reveals a great many studies, each reminiscent both in power and in population. This sort of pedigree predicts data of tremendous quality. A fortiori, Engebretsen et al. assign responsibility of greater than twenty per cent of all acute soccer injuries to the posterior thigh, namely the hamstrings. Other excellent thinkers have also published many original papers, or gathered and integrated them as reviews, in the pursuit to more fully understand this injury. The reader is guided to the 2010 and 2005 works of Heiderscheit et al. and Petersen and Hölmich, respectively, for excellent reviews. For original research questions the reader is in turn directed to the 2009 work of Greig and Siegler and the 2003 work of Brocket et al.

And now the aside. A thread that runs common through these and innumerable other research studies regards the sport, the native context, under which these incidents transpire. While the data are varied, with some confidence Australian rules football alone rivals soccer in hamstring muscle strain injury rate. Therefore, with South Africa as host and as thirty-two proud nations prepare to field their very best to participate in one of the great tournaments of the world, the PT Project will watch with interest, asking questions as the beautiful game unfolds. Noteworthy of special mention is Cesc Fabregas, the calculating Arsenal captain of the English Premier league and strong midfield presence for the nation of Spain. He was recently ranked the sixth best player set to compete in the World Cup tournament. He also waded through a recurrent hamstring strain for much of his professional season past. What exactly does this mean? In their most recent paper, Engebretsen et al. find previous acute hamstring damage to more than double the reinjury risk. But Arsenal staff brilliant physiotherapists. Eagerness reigns as the PT Project anticipates, and invites the reader to anticipate, the extent to which their good work will serve to curb reinjury.