Return to play in elite rugby players after severe knee injuries.
Aneurin D Robyn, Quinette A Louw, Jochen Baumeister
PMID 35547961WHAT IT FOUND
After severe knee injuries, elite rugby players were slower over 10 m and in reactive agility decision-making than before injury.
No clear differences were found versus matched uninjured players at return to play, while controls improved.
Key findings
01At return to play, injured players were significantly slower in the 10 m speed test, decision-making time and total reactive agility time than at baseline.
02The uninjured players were significantly faster in 10 m and 30 m speed, showed improved single-leg hop distance, and showed improved countermovement jump force at zero velocity, peak force and reactive strength index over the same period.
03At return to play, there were no significant differences between injured and uninjured players, although injured players were slower in five of the outcomes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The sample was small, with only 14 injured players. Only elite male rugby players from the Cape Winelands and Cape Metropole were studied, so findings may not apply to other levels, women, or other sports. The study did not report rehabilitation programme details, rehabilitation days, conditioning plan or training exposure, so performance differences cannot be linked to specific treatment. There was no longer follow-up to link test results with match performance or re-injury. No aerobic test was included, so the physical profile at return to play was incomplete.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that severe knee injury produced a clear physical deficit compared with controls. The injured players were slower than their own baseline in some speed and reactive agility tests, but there were no significant differences between injured and uninjured players at return to play, and the study did not track match performance or re-injury.