Injection therapy in professional footballers

Background

Injection therapy offers a minimally invasive approach for symptomatic relief that allows concurrent training, limiting time loss and providing a faster recovery. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence to support it, and there are controversies about its use. The present narrative review aims to present the available scientific literature on injection therapies in professional footballers (PF), highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of its use in the most common injuries.

Methods

The authors searched and reviewed contemporary literature on injection therapies in PF in electronic databases, summarizing them in a narrative review.

Results

Injection therapies such as hyaluronic acid and PRP have shown an adequate safety profile that allows their use. Current evidence suggests that hyaluronic acid injections are a valid option for managing symptomatic cartilage injuries. At the same time, PRP injections have failed to prove beneficial in treating muscle injuries and should be avoided until further evidence proves the opposite. Yet, PRP may have potential use in partial ACL injuries, anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament injuries (ankle syndesmosis), and fifth metatarsal fractures and needs further study. Due to the long-term health repercussions, other injection therapies should be preferred over corticosteroids in PF.

Conclusions

There is a paucity of evidence on the use and benefits of injection therapies in PF despite its extensive use among physicians. Viscosupplementation may have a role in improving symptomatic cartilage injuries. In contrast, PRP injection therapy needs further high-quality clinical trials to assess its role in PF sports injuries.