Table 2.
Characteristics of Achilles tendon ruptures in professional male football players. Situational and kinematic patterns are presented for each main injury pattern and the total cohort. RTC: Return to competition
| Item | Jumping | Starting | Landing | Stepping back | Running/Sprinting | Other | All |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 10 | 8 | 16 | 21 | 14 |
11 Direct contact: 5 Twisting: 6 |
80 |
| Player’s age at injury (years; mean ± SD) | 31.2 ± 4.5 | 30.5 ± 5.9 | 29.1 ± 4.2 | 28.9 ± 4.5 | 26 ± 2.7 | 27 ± 3.3 | 28.6 ± 4.4 |
| Time to return to competition (days; median [IQR]) |
219 [180–246] No RTC: 1 |
233 [187.5–227.5] No RTC: 1 |
202 [178.25–235.75] | 184 [171.25–208.75] | 242 [189,25–313] | 197 [162–260] | 202 [173–245] No RTC: 2 |
| Minute of play (mean ± SD) | 48.1 ± 27.8 | 54.6 ± 36.5 | 32.7 ± 20.2 | 37.3 ± 29.7 | 46.6 ± 31.6 | 36.7 ± 12.3 | 39.3 ± 26.7 |
|
Main injury mechanism (n): Direct contact / Indirect contact / Non-contact In brackets (n): Non-contact injuries with distance to another player < 2 meters and ≥ 2 meters |
0/2/8 (6 + 2) | 0/0/8 (3 + 5) | 0/4/12 (7 + 5) | 0/1/20 (10 + 10) | 0/1/13 (7 + 6) | 5/3/3 (3 + 0) | 5/11/64 (37 + 27) |
| Player’s position (n): Goalkeeper / Defense / Midfield / Forward | 0/6/3/1 | 2/1/5/0 | 2/7/7/0 | 1/6/10/4 | 0/7/6/1 | 1/3/4/3 | 6/30/35/9 |
| Ball possession (n): Own team / Injured player / Opponent team / Unclear / Nobody | 1/1/1/7 | 0/6/2/0 | 4/9/0/3 | 6/5/5/5 | 4/5/4/1 | 0/8/3/0 | 15/34/15/16 |
| Direction of movement (n): No horizontal movement / Forward / Lateral / Backward | 0/0/0/10 | 0/8/0/0 | 7/5/1/3 | 0/0/0/21 | 0/14/0/0 | 1/10/0/0 | 8/37/1/34 |
| Pitch contact (n): Both legs / Single leg / No contact | 7/3/0 | 4/4/0 | 1/15/0 | 16/5/0 | 0/14/0 | 0/10/1 | 28/51/1 |
| Trunk position (n): Flexion / Neutral / Extension | 3/7/0 | 7/1/0 | 5/11/0 |
14/6/0 Missing data: 1 |
NA |
1/5/0 NA: 5 |
30/30/0 Missing data: 1 NA: 19 |
| Hip joint movement sagittal (n): Flexion to extension / None / Extension to flexion | 10/0/0 | 8/0/0 | 12/3/1 |
18/2/0 Missing data: 1 |
NA |
2/3/1 NA: 5 |
50/8/2 Missing data: 1 NA: 19 |
| Hip joint angle at assumed injury frame sagittal (n): < 45° / 45–90° / > 90° | 10/0/0 | 7/1/0 | 14/1/1 |
20/0/0 Missing data: 1 |
NA |
4/2/0 NA: 5 |
55/4/1 Missing data: 1 NA: 19 |
| Knee joint movement sagittal (n): Flexion to extension / None / Extension to flexion | 10/0/0 | 8/0/0 | 14/1/1 |
20/0/0 Missing data: 1 |
NA |
3/1/2 NA: 5 |
55/2/3 Missing data: 1 NA: 19 |
| Knee joint angle at assumed injury frame sagittal (n): < 45° / 45–90°/ > 90° | 10/0/0 | 8/0/0 | 15/1/0 |
20/0/0 Missing data: 1 |
NA |
5/1/0 NA: 5 |
58/2/0 Missing data: 1 NA: 19 |
| Ankle joint movement sagittal (n): Plantarflexion to dorsiflexion / None / Dorsiflexion to plantarflexion | 0/0/10 | 8/0/0 | 15/1/0 |
20/0/0 Missing data: 1 |
NA |
4/2/0 NA: 5 |
47/3/10 Missing data: 1 NA: 19 |
| Foot position in sagittal plane at assumed injury frame (n): Plantarflexion / Neutral / Dorsiflexion | 3/6/1 | 0/0/8 | 0/1/15 |
0/0/20 Missing data: 1 |
NA |
0/2/4 NA: 5 |
3/9/48 Missing data: 1 NA: 19 |
| Foot position in coronal plane at assumed injury frame (n): Supination / Neutral / Pronation | 0/6/4 | 0/5/3 | 0/9/7 |
0/13/7 Missing data: 1 |
NA |
1/3/2 NA: 5 |
1/36/23 Missing data: 1 NA: 19 |
| Foot position in axial plane at assumed injury frame (n): Abducted / Neutral / Adducted | 6/4/0 | 4/4/0 | 9/7/0 |
10/10/0 Missing data: 1 |
NA |
2/2/2 NA: 5 |
31/27/2 Missing data: 1 NA: 19 |