Background

Hamstring strain injuries (HSI) are prevalent in team sports and occur frequently in the later phase of matches. In the search for interindividual factors that determine muscle fatigue and possibly injury risk, muscle fibre typology is a likely candidate.

Objective

The aim of the study was to determine whether muscle fibre typology is a risk factor for HSI.

Methods

A prospective cohort study was conducted over three seasons in professional football players competing in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League (n = 118) and in the English Premier League (n = 47). A total of 27 HSI were sustained during this period. Muscle fibre typology was non-invasively estimated using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and was characterized as a fast, slow, or intermediate typology based on the carnosine concentration in the soleus. A multivariate Cox model was used to identify risk factors for HSI.

Results

Football players exhibited a wide variety of muscle typologies (slow 44.9%, intermediate 39.8%, fast 15.3%). In the combined cohort, players with a fast typology displayed a 5.3-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.92–14.8; P = 0.001) higher risk of sustaining an index HSI than slow typology players. This was also independently observed in both leagues separately as, respectively, a 6.7-fold (95% CI 1.3–34.1; P = 0.023) and a 5.1-fold (95% CI 1.2–20.4; P = 0.023) higher chance was found in fast typology players than in slow typology players of the Jupiler Pro League and the Premier League cohort.

Conclusion

We identified muscle fibre typology as a novel and potent risk factor for HSI in team sports.

中文翻译：

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肌肉纤维类型学作为职业足球（足球）腿筋拉伤的新风险因素：一项前瞻性队列研究

背景

腿筋拉伤 (HSI) 在团队运动中很普遍，并且经常发生在比赛的后期阶段。在寻找决定肌肉疲劳和可能受伤风险的个体因素时，肌纤维类型学可能是一个候选者。

客观的

该研究的目的是确定肌纤维类型学是否是 HSI 的危险因素。

方法

对参加比利时职业联赛 ( n  = 118) 和英超联赛 ( n  = 47) 的职业足球运动员进行了为期三个赛季的前瞻性队列研究。在此期间，共有 27 个 HSI 被维持。肌肉纤维类型学是使用质子磁共振波谱进行非侵入性估计的，并根据比目鱼肌中的肌肽浓度被定性为快速、慢速或中间类型学。多变量 Cox 模型用于识别 HSI 的风险因素。

结果

足球运动员表现出各种各样的肌肉类型（慢速 44.9%、中速 39.8%、快速 15.3%）。 在组合队列中，具有快速类型学的玩家显示出比慢速类型学玩家维持指数 HSI 的风险高5.3 倍（95% 置信区间 [CI] 1.92–14.8；P = 0.001）。这也在两个联赛中分别独立观察到，分别是 6.7 倍（95% CI 1.3–34.1；P  = 0.023）和 5.1 倍（95% CI 1.2–20.4；P  = 0.023）被发现的机会在 Jupiler Pro League 和 Premier League 队列中，快速类型球员比慢速类型球员。

结论

我们将肌纤维类型学确定为团队运动中 HSI 的一种新颖而有效的风险因素。