Thermography and Muscular Injuries in Sports Medicine

Abstract

Among all the injuries which can be observed in sports medicine, muscular injuries are the most frequent after osteoarticular lesions. Non-muscular lesions have been studied in more depth. As they generally have an important inflammatory component (tendinitis, synovitis) they are more easily detected. Muscular pathology is often responsible for very disabling sequelae, especially for highly trained athletes. If diagnosis of a muscular traumatic injury is generally easy, its functional importance is much more difficult to assess. It will, nevertheless, determine the treatment and therefore the date of sport resumption. Resumption will be allowed only when complete anatomical healing has been achieved. Patients’ follow-up must, then, be very strict. This is particularly important in professional and high competition level athletes. The classification of muscle injuries remains obscure and it is therefore rather difficult to make a clear distinction between the different degrees of injury, ranging from the single pulled muscle to heavy muscle strain, laceration or rupture.