Hamstring injury as a preview of athletic biomechanical knee injuries: A review article

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 PhD student of sport injuries and corrective exercise, Faculty of sports science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor in sports medicine, Faculty of sports science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor in sports injuries, Faculty of sports science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

4 Associated professor of sports biomechanics, Faculty of sports science, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

Abstract

Back ground and aim: Hamstring strain is the most prevalent injury with long term complications and the attendant poor function. As previousely known, hamstring has an important role in knee joint biomechanics and there is a link between its function and the function of Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). The aim of the present study was to review the hamstring injury effects on the knee biomechanical changes and its role in increasing the incidence of non-contact knee injuries such as ACL tearing as the most common injury.
Materials and Methods: PubMed, ScienceDirect, and GoogleScholar databases were searched for studies published in English between 2000 and 2016. The following terms: knee, athletes, and hamstring injury, as well as the combination of these terms were used.
Results: Among the relevant studies, 32 studies were selected based on the topics and then divided into three groups: 1) hamstring neuromuscular changes after injury; 2) role of hamstring injury on the knee biomechanical changes, and 3) hamstring co-activation with the other lower extremity muscles.
Conclusion: Because of long term defect after hamstring injury, long term period of treatment, and its effects on the knee joint biomechanics in some special tasks, hamstring injury could be the reason of knee joint biomechanical changes and non-contact injuries, such as ACL tearing.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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Volume 6, Issue 3
September and October 2017
Pages 274-285
  • Receive Date: 25 August 2016
  • Revise Date: 21 October 2016
  • Accept Date: 29 October 2016
  • First Publish Date: 23 September 2017