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Medicina dello Sport 2020 March;73(1):107-16

DOI: 10.23736/S0025-7826.20.03612-1

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English, Italian

Analysis of sports injuries in a professional football club

Cem CETIN ¹, Sabriye ERCAN ¹ ✉, Burhanettin CALIM ²

¹ Department of Sports Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey; ² Club Medical Department, Antalya, Turkey

BACKGROUND: The data on the injury profiles of the football clubs in our country is very limited. This study aims at analyzing the injuries of the athletes playing in a professional male football club in the Super Lig of Turkey and determining the injury incidence.
METHODS: The male athletes of a football club, which played in the Super Lig level were included in the study. Injury frequencies, incidence rates, severity, and location, types were recorded.
RESULTS: At the end of examining the three seasons injury profiles of the club, the injury incidence was found 10.6 injuries per 1000 h. Eighteen days of loss is experienced in each injury. The severity of the injuries is generally moderate (53.7%). The injuries occurred frequently in thigh (33.3%). The most frequent injury type is muscle injury (42.9%). The muscle groups, in which new injuries and reinjuries occurred, is the hamstring. It is found that the muscle injuries were mostly grade 2 (40.7%). The month, in which the most injuries occurred during the seasons, is August. There is not any statistically significant difference in the parameters examined between the groups regarding the seasons (P>0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Football players face the risk of musculoskeletal system injuries, especially in the lower extremities. The severity of the injuries is mostly low-moderate level. However, it is a fact that every injury causes losses for both the athlete and the club. It is imperative that the number of surveillance studies in sports in our country increase and discipline-specific incidences be presented.

KEY WORDS: Incidence; Injuries; Football