Trial reportBritish journal of sports medicine2022
Early versus delayed lengthening exercises for acute hamstring injury in male athletes: a randomised controlled clinical trial.
Trial report in British journal of sports medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 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
- Effect of Hamstring Exercises on Morphological Parameters of the Hamstring Muscle: A Systematic Review With MRI and USI Findings.Sports health · 2026Review
- The Effect of Therapeutic Exercises and Ultrasound for Rehabilitation of Partially Injured Hamstring Muscles in Elite Soccer (Football) Players: A Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2026Article
- Porcine Collagen Injection Therapy Affects Proximal Hamstring Tendinopathy in Athletes by Reducing Time to Return to Sport.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Return to performance: machine learning insights into how absence time following muscle injuries affects match running performance in LaLiga soccer players.Biology of sport · 2025Article
- Dilemma in the Treatment of Sports Injuries in Athletes: Tendon Overuse, Muscle Strain, and Tendon Rupture.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2025Review
- Management of Proximal Hamstring Injuries: Non-operative and Operative Treatment.Current reviews in musculoskeletal medicine · 2024Review
- Baseline clinical and MRI risk factors for hamstring reinjury showing the value of performing baseline MRI and delaying return to play: a multicentre, prospective cohort of 330 acute hamstring injuries.British journal of sports medicine · 2024Article
- Return to Sport, Reinjury Rate, and Tissue Changes after Muscle Strain Injury: A Narrative Review.Translational sports medicine · 2024Review
- Flywheel resistance training in football: a useful rehabilitation tool for practitioners.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Perception and use of flywheel resistance training amongst therapists in sport.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 1 institution in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo evaluate the efficacy of early versus delayed introduction of lengthening (ie, eccentric strengthening) exercises in addition to an established rehabilitation programme on return to sport duration for acute hamstring injuries in a randomised controlled superiority trial.
methods90 male participants (age: 18-36 years, median 26 years) with an MRI-confirmed acute hamstring injury were randomised into an early lengthening (at day 1 of rehabilitation) group or a delayed lengthening (after being able to run at 70% of maximal speed) group. Both groups received an established rehabilitation programme. The primary outcome was time to return to sport (ie, time from injury to full unrestricted training and/or match play). The secondary outcome was reinjury rate within 12 months after return to sport. Other outcomes at return to sport included the Askling H-test, hamstring strength, clinical examination and readiness questions.
resultsThe return to sport in the early lengthening group was 23 (IQR 16-35) days and 33 (IQR 23-40) days in the delayed lengthening group. For return to sport (in days), the adjusted HR for the early lengthening group compared with the delayed lengthening group was 0.95 (95% CI 0.56 to 1.60, p=0.84). There was no significant difference between groups for reinjury rates within 2 months (OR=0.94, 95% CI 0.18 to 5.0, p=0.94), from 2 to 6 months (OR=2.00, 95% CI 0.17 to 23.3, p=0.58), and 6 to 12 months (OR=0.57, 95% CI 0.05 to 6.6, p=0.66).
conclusionAccelerating the introduction of lengthening exercises in the rehabilitation of hamstring injury in male athletes did not improve the time to return to sport nor the risk of reinjury.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.