ACHILLES TENDON INJURY AND COMPLEX PATELLAR FOR OVERUSE IN SOCCER PLAYERS: ULTRASOUND INVESTIGATION BEFORE AND AFTER THE MATCH

Background: Football is one of the most popular sports in the world. Many players are suffering from disease of the Achilles tendon and the complex of the patellar tendon during periods of intense training with characteristics painful conditions of the tendons. Football players use their tendons to the limit because of the 'intensity of your workouts and frequent games. They participate in tournaments with echographic signs of underlying disease, and most of them play with a certain degree of pain. Objectives: To investigate the changes in the players ultrasound at baseline and after participating in a youth football tournament. Methods: 72 players were interviewed. 64 of the respondents underwent ultrasound examination before the game. 45 of the 64 players (70%) were scanned again at follow-up after the match. The interviews were conducted by the same person and all scans were done by the same doctor. The players were chosen randomly among those controlled interview Scanning was performed with a 15 MHz linear transducer. E 'was performed a careful examination grayscale and Doppler of the Achilles tendon and patellar complex. Ultimate goal was to determine the amount and distribution of activities Doppler with a score of 0–4. Results: Sixty-two players (86%) had severe damage to tendons 80 over the past three years. 45 (50%) covered the whole patellar and 34 (37%) the Achilles tendon. In 60% of the problems they had started slowly and the mean duration of symptoms was 4 months (0–36). The '86% accepted the pain, 21% took painkillers, especially NSAIDs, to be able to play. At baseline, the Doppler activity was evaluated in most players. After the match, these changes were not significantly changed in most investigated regions. However, a very significant increase was observed in the tendons on the non-dominant side: quadriceps (Willcoxon p<0.001), patellar tendon (p<0.05), and Achilles tendon central portion (p<0.05). Conclusions: Doppler activity was found in all the tendons of soccer players examined to indicate a high degree of tension of these tendons. An increase in the fraction of color Doppler was significant only at the non-dominant leg. This can be explained by the fact that players load more frequently on this side. Changes Doppler correspond to the highest number of accidents on this side and a possible prognostic value of Doppler information is to be tested in a prospective study. References: 1. Cook JL, Khan KM, Harcourt PR, Kiss ZS, Fehrmann MW, Griffiths L, Wark JD. Patellar Tendon Ultrasonography in Asymptomatic Active Athletes Reveals Hypoechoic Regions: A Study of 320 Tendons. Clin J Sport Med. 1998 Apr;8(2):73–7. 2. Ohberg L, Alfredson H, and Khan K. Ultrasound guided sclerosis of neovessels in painful chronic Achilles tendinosis: pilot study of a new treatment. Br J Sports Med. 2002 Jun;36(3):173–177. Disclosure of Interest: None declared DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2016-eular.5839Citation: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, volume 75, supplement 2, year 2016, page 1235Session: Diagnostics and imaging procedures (Abstracts Accepted for Publication )