Muscle injury
Muscle injuries is a broad term encompassing many pathologies and these are common injuries in both elite and amateur athletes as well as in the general population.
Clinical presentation
Typically, muscle injuries present with pain and loss of function. Clinically, they can be graded as :
- grade 1: no appreciable muscle tearing, <5% loss of function/strength
- grade 2: damage to the musculotendinous junction (MTJ); reduced strength; some residual function
- grade 3: complete tear of the MTJ; loss function +/- a palpable gap
Pathology
Muscle injuries can consist of :
- direct trauma
- muscle contusion
- acute
- subacute
- chronic (myositis ossificans)
- penetrating trauma with laceration (rare)
- muscle contusion
- indirect trauma
- delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)
- muscle tear/strain
- proximal or distal MTJ
- myofascial
- acute avulsion injury