29 Jul FSI Football Science Update
1. A multidisciplinary assessment of 320 athletes with long-standing groin pain syndrome in keeping with the Italian consensus agreement: the high incidence and the multiple causes of inguinal and hip pathologies and pubic osteopathy
Bisciotti GN et al.
Paris Saint Germain FC, Paris, France – bisciotti@libero.it
J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2021 Jul;61(7):960-970. doi: 10.23736/S0022-4707.20.11575-5
A descriptive epidemiological study was carried out on 320 athletes (290 men and 30 women) affected by long-standing groin pain syndrome. Amongst the clinical tests for inguinal pathologies, only the External Inguinal Ring Exploration proved conclusive. In testing for adductor tendinopathies, only the Isometric Squeeze with flexed knee, and the Palpatory Test at the pubic insertion of the adductor longus proved useful. Among the tests for hip pathologies, only the Flexion Abduction External Rotation Test was seen to be conclusive. In the male population, long-standing groin syndrome presents a single cause in 74% of cases, of which almost 58% can be attributed to inguinal pathologies. in the female population, acetabular labrum tears represent the most frequent etiology.
2. Fatigue Induced by Repeated Changes of Direction in Élite Female Football (Soccer) Players: Impact on Lower Limb Biomechanics and Implications for ACL Injury Prevention
Zago M et al.
Dipartimento di Meccanica, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2021 Jul 5;9:666841. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.666841
To assess the effect of fatigue on joints kinematics and kinetics while performing repeated changes of direction (CoDs) as a possible ACL risk factor, in this study 20 elite female soccer players performed a continuous shuttle run test (5-m) involving repeated 180° CoDs until exhaustion. Different alterations in lower limb kinematics or kinetics were found in 100% of the players, namely progressive reduction in hip and knee flexion angle at initial contact (10 players), significantly more adducted hip (5 players), decreased knee extension moment (8 players), increased knee valgus moment (5 players), drift of pivoting limb altered kinematics, or less definite behaviors. In sum, players exhibited different strategies to cope with repeated CoDs, ranging from protective to potentially dangerous behaviors, reinforcing the importance of individual biomechanical assessment when coping with fatigue.
3. No increased injury incidence in the German Bundesliga after the SARS-CoV-2 virus lockdown
Krutsch W, Hadji A, Tröß T, Szymski D, Aus der Fünten K, Gärtner B, Alt V, Meyer T
Department of Trauma Surgery, University Medical Centre Regensburg, Germany
Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2021 Jul 20:1-8. doi: 10.1007/s00402-021-04060-2
The coronavirus lockdown in 2020 resulted in a worldwide suspension of professional sports. This study of the German Bundesliga injury registry shows that the 9 match days after the restart of the 2019-2020 season showed an overall injury incidence rate of 4.9 per 1000 h, significantly lower than that of the previous season final 9 match days (6.9 per 1000 h) and not increased compared to the rates of the 9 match days after the summer break (5.5/1000 h) or the winter break (8 match days; 5.6/1000 h).