Table 1.

Characteristics of the included studies.

Study	Age; n; Sex; Athletic Level;	Injury	Methods	Intervention	Results	PEDro Scale
1.Christakou and Zervas [44]	18–30 yrs; n = 18; M; at least 2 years of athletic experience	Ankle sprain grade II	Randomly allocated into 2 groups: 1. RI (n = 9), 2. CNTL, (n = 9), (Physical Therapy Program)	RI protocol 12 sessions/ 4 weeks 45 min each session	VAS: No significant statistical difference in the RI condition compared with the CNTL condition	7/11
2.Cupal and Brewer [45]	18–50 yrs; n = 30; M = 16, F = 14; recreational and competitive athletes	ACL reconstructive surgery	Randomly allocated into 3 groups: 1. RGI (n = 10), 2. PL (attention, encouragement and support), (n = 10), 3. CNTL Group (Physical Therapy Program)	RGI protocol 10 sessions every 2 weeks apart over 6 months/10–15 min (visual, kinesthetic, motivational and healing imagery)	NRS: Significant statistical difference in RGI condition compared with the PL and the CNTL condition	7/11
3.Lebon, Guillot, and Collet [46]	18–40 yrs; n = 12; M = 10, F = 2; recreational and competitive athletes	ACL reconstructive surgery	Randomly allocated into 2 groups: 1. KI (n = 7), 2. CNTL, (n = 5), (Physical Therapy Program)	KI protocol 12 sessions/5 weeks every second day/15 min each session	VAS: No significant statistical difference in the KI condition compared with the control condition	9/11

yrs: years, VAS: Visual Analogue Scale, NRS: Numerical Rating Scale, M: Male, F: Female, RI: Relaxation and Imagery, CNTL: Control, RGI: Relaxation and Guided Imagery, PL: Placebo, KI: Kinesthetic Imagery.