ReviewSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2021
Return to Play After a Hamstring Strain Injury: It is Time to Consider Natural Healing.
Review in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Establishing weighted criteria for return to play after hamstring injury: a systematic review and methodological quality analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Conservative Interventions After Acute Hamstrings Injuries in Athletes: A Living Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Subsequent Injury Risk After Return-to-Play From Lower-Extremity Muscle Injuries in Professional Male Football (Soccer).Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Porcine Collagen Injection Therapy Affects Proximal Hamstring Tendinopathy in Athletes by Reducing Time to Return to Sport.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Principles of musculoskeletal sport injuries for epidemiologists: a review.Injury epidemiology · 2024Review
- MRI radiomics for hamstring strain injury identification and return to sport classification: a pilot study.Skeletal radiology · 2024Article
- Managing Lower Limb Muscle Reinjuries in Athletes: From Risk Factors to Return-to-Play Strategies.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2023Review
- Computer-modified paramedian approach technique reduces failures and alleviates pain in lumbar puncture: a prospective comparative study.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Article
- Management of anterior thigh injuries in soccer players: practical guide.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2022Review
- On-field rehabilitation in football: Current knowledge, applications and future directions.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Return to play (RTP) criteria after hamstring strain injuries (HSIs) help clinicians in deciding whether an athlete is ready to safely resume previous sport activities. Today, functional and sport-specific training tests are the gold standard in the decision-making process. These criteria lead to an average RTP time between 11 and 25 days after a grade 1 or 2 HSI. However, the high re-injury rates indicate a possible inadequacy of the current RTP criteria. A possible explanation for this could be the neglect of biological healing time. The present review shows that studies indicating time as a possible factor within the RTP-decision are very scarce. However, studies on biological muscle healing showed immature scar tissue and incomplete muscle healing at the average moment of RTP. Twenty-five percent of the re-injuries occur in the first week after RTP and at the exact same location as the index injury. This review supports the statement that functional recovery precedes the biological healing of the muscle. Based on basic science studies on biological muscle healing, we recommend a minimum period of 4 weeks before RTP after a grade 1 or 2 HSI. In conclusion, we advise a comprehensive RTP functional test battery with respect for the natural healing process. Before deciding RTP readiness, clinicians should reflect whether or not it is biologically possible for the injured tissue to have regained enough strength to withstand the sport-specific forces. In an attempt to reduce the detrimental injury-reinjury cycle, it is time to start considering (biological healing) time.
Indexed as
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Registered trials
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