In a new paper published in Insights into Imaging, experts propose that MRI should be the final stop before rehabilitated athletes pass go and return to play (RTP) following an injury [1].
The study evaluated the cases of 59 professional athletes who had sustained an acute lower limb muscle injury. Researchers sought to identify specific MRI findings that could be associated with reinjury following an athlete’s re-entry into their sport.
“MRI appearances of muscle injuries help to categorize the degree and help guide when the athlete may return to play,” Jaime Isern-Kebschull of the University of Barcelona and colleagues noted.
Athletes involved in the analysis underwent an MRI exam within six days of their injury and again seven days prior to RTP. Out of the 59 participants, 9 (15.2%) were reinjured, with the most frequently injured and reinjured muscle being the biceps femoris.
Researchers were not able to link any MRI-related variables from the athletes’ baseline scans with reinjury. However, the scans that were completed prior to the athletes’ RTP contained several findings found to have a significant association with reinjury: connective tissue gap, loss of tendon tension, intermuscular edema, callus gap and interstitial feather edema.
Additionally, the experts noted, when two of these findings occurred in the presence of interstitial feathery edema, the risk of injury recurrence was even greater.
These findings remained consistent regardless of how well the athletes progressed during rehabilitation.
The authors acknowledged that although their cohort was small, the significant predictive value of the radiological findings on MRI provide ample support for including the modality as a tool to confirm whether athletes are suited to return to their sport.
“The present results are clinically relevant, not only because of the identification of specific predictive radiological signs per se, but also for emphasizing the role of MRI performed prior to RTP, when from a clinical point of view the player is asymptomatic and ready to return to competition,” the authors wrote.
The full study is available for free here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.