ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2019
Italian consensus statement (2020) on return to play after lower limb muscle injury in football (soccer).
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Return-to-Play Criteria Following Lower Limb Muscle Injuries in Soccer: A Systematic Review with Evidence Synthesis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Ready or Not; A Narrative Synthesis of Sports Medicine Practitioners' Practices During Return to Play in the Management of Musculoskeletal Injuries.European journal of sport science · 2025Pooled it
- Return to performance criteria in soccer after musculoskeletal injury: A scoping review.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2026Article
- Psycho-social-contextual landscape of return to sport after hamstring strain injuries: a scoping review.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2026Article
- How do muscle injuries relate to return-to-performance metrics in male elite football players?Biology of sport · 2026Article
- Precision anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in high-level athletes.Annals of joint · 2026Review
- Ultrasound-guided interventions in elite soccer players.Skeletal radiology · 2025Review
- The Role of MRI in Groin Pain Syndrome in Athletes.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Evaluation of the impact of a 3-week specific-sport rehabilitation program on neuromotor control during single-leg countermovement-jump tests in professional soccer players with lower-limb injuries.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Complete Distal Rupture of the Rectus Femoris in an Elite Football Player: A Non-operative Treatment.Cureus · 2023Article
- Return to Play After the Diagnosis of Reactive Arthritis in a Professional Football Player.Cureus · 2023Article
- Achilles Tendon Repair after Tenorraphy Imaging and the Doughnut Metaphor.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Are Football Players More Prone to Muscle Injury after COVID-19 Infection? The "Italian Injury Study" during the Serie a Championship.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- COVID-19 as a Potential Cause of Muscle Injuries in Professional Italian Serie A Soccer Players: A Retrospective Observational Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Observational
- Paramagnetic contrast medium in high-level athletes with lower limb muscle injuries: can it make the return to sport safer reducing the recurrence rate?La Radiologia medica · 2022Article
- Management of anterior thigh injuries in soccer players: practical guide.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2022Review
- Return to Play in Long-Standing Adductor-Related Groin Pain: A Delphi Study Among Experts.Sports medicine - open · 2022Article
- A commentary of factors related to player availability and its influence on performance in elite team sports.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Article
- Role of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging in the prognosis and classification of muscle injuries in professional football players: correlation between imaging and return to sport time.La Radiologia medica · 2021Article
- Ultrasound Imaging in Sport-Related Muscle Injuries: Pitfalls and Opportunities.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
67 authors at 20 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Return to play (RTP) decisions in football are currently based on expert opinion. No consensus guideline has been published to demonstrate an evidence-based decision-making process in football (soccer). Our aim was to provide a framework for evidence-based decision-making in RTP following lower limb muscle injuries sustained in football. A 1-day consensus meeting was held in Milan, on 31 August 2018, involving 66 national and international experts from various academic backgrounds. A narrative review of the current evidence for RTP decision-making in football was provided to delegates. Assembled experts came to a consensus on the best practice for managing RTP following lower limb muscle injuries via the Delphi process. Consensus was reached on (1) the definitions of 'return to training' and 'return to play' in football. We agreed on 'return to training' and RTP in football, the appropriate use of clinical and imaging assessments, and laboratory and field tests for return to training following lower limb muscle injury, and identified objective criteria for RTP based on global positioning system technology. Level of evidence IV, grade of recommendation D.
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