Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Upper extremity injuries in male elite football players

  • Shoulder
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the epidemiology of upper extremity injuries in male elite football players and to describe their characteristics, incidence and lay-off times.

Methods

Between 2001 and 2011, 57 male European elite football teams (2,914 players and 6,215 player seasons) were followed prospectively. Time-loss injuries and exposure to training and matches were recorded on individual basis.

Results

In total, 11,750 injuries were recorded, 355 (3 %) of those affected the upper extremities giving an incidence of 0.23 injuries/1,000 h of football. The incidence in match play was almost 7 times higher than in training (0.83 vs. 0.12 injuries/1,000 h, rate ratio 6.7, 95 % confidence interval 5.5–8.3). As much as 32 % of traumatic match injuries occurred as a result of foul play situations. Goalkeepers had a significantly higher incidence of upper extremity injuries compared to outfield players (0.80 vs. 0.16 injuries/1,000 h, rate ratio 5.0, 95 % confidence interval 4.0–6.2). The average absence due to an upper extremity injury was 23 ± 34 days.

Conclusions

Upper extremity injuries are uncommon among male elite football players. Goalkeepers, however, are prone to upper extremity injury, with a five times higher incidence compared to outfield players.

Level of evidence

II.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Aitken S, Court-Brown CM (2008) The epidemiology of sports-related fractures of the hand. Injury 39:1377–1383

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Árnason Á, Gudmundsson Á, Dahl HA et al (1996) Soccer injuries in Iceland. Scand J Med Sci Sports 6:40–45

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Árnason A, Tenga A, Engebretsen L et al (2004) A prospective video-based analysis of injury situations in elite male football: football incident analysis. Am J Sports Med 32:1459–1465

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Bishop JY, Kaeding C (2006) Treatment of the acute traumatic acromioclavicular separation. Sports Med Arthrosc 14:237–245

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Carlisle JC, Goldfarb CA, Mall N et al (2008) Upper extremity injuries in the National Football League: part II: elbow, forearm, and wrist injuries. Am J Sports Med 36:1945–1952

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ekstrand J, Gillquist J (1983) Soccer injuries and their mechanisms: a prospective study. Med Sci Sports Exerc 15:267–270

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Ekstrand J, Tropp H (1990) The incidence of ankle sprains in soccer. Foot Ankle 11:41–44

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Ekstrand J, Gillquist J, Liljedahl SO (1983) Prevention of soccer injuries. Supervision by doctor and physiotherapist. Am J Sports Med 11:116–120

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Ekstrand J, Gillquist J, Möller M et al (1983) Incidence of soccer injuries and their relation to training and team success. Am J Sports Med 11:63–67

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Ekstrand J, Timpka T, Hägglund M (2006) Risk of injury in elite football played on artificial turf versus natural grass: a prospective two-cohort study. Br J Sports Med 40:975–980

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Ekstrand J, Hägglund M, Waldén M (2011) Injury incidence and injury patterns in professional football—the UEFA injury study. Br J Sports Med 45:553–558

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. FIFA (2012) 270 million people active in football. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/01/28/72/70/hof-ee.pdf

  13. Fuller CW, Ekstrand J, Junge A et al (2006) Consensus statement on injury definitions and data collection procedures in studies of football (soccer) injuries. Br J Sports Med 40:193–201

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Hägglund M, Waldén M, Ekstrand J (2005) Injury incidence and distribution in elite football–a prospective study of the Danish and the Swedish top divisions. Scand J Med Sci Sports 15:21–28

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Hägglund M, Waldén M, Bahr R et al (2005) Methods for epidemiological study of injuries to professional football players: developing the UEFA model. Br J Sports Med 39:340–346

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Hägglund M, Waldén M, Ekstrand J (2006) Previous injury as a risk factor for injury in elite football: a prospective study over two consecutive seasons. Br J Sports Med 40:767–772

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Hägglund M, Waldén M, Ekstrand J (2007) Lower reinjury rate with a coach-controlled rehabilitation program in amateur male soccer: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Sports Med 35:1433–1442

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Hägglund M, Waldén M, Ekstrand J (2008) Injuries among male and female elite football players. Scand J Med Sci Sports 19:819–827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hawkins RD, Fuller CW (1999) A prospective epidemiological study of injuries in four English professional football clubs. Br J Sports Med 33:196–203

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Hawkins RD, Hulse MA, Wilkinson C et al (2001) The association football medical research programme: an audit of injuries in professional football. Br J Sports Med 35:43–47

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Hovelius L (1982) Incidence of shoulder dislocation in Sweden. Clin Orthop Relat Res 166:127–131

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Inklaar H (1994) Soccer injuries. I: incidence and severity. Sports Med 18:55–73

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Junge A, Dvorak J (2004) Soccer injuries: a review on incidence and prevention. Sports Med 34:929–938

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Junge A, Dvorak J, Graf-Baumann T (2004) Football injuries during the World Cup 2002. Am J Sports Med 32:23S–27S

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Le Gall F, Carling C, Reilly T et al (2006) Incidence of injuries in elite French youth soccer players: a 10-season study. Am J Sports Med 34:928–938

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Lindenfeld TN, Schmitt DJ, Hendy MP et al (1994) Incidence of injury in indoor soccer. Am J Sports Med 22:364–371

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Mall NA, Carlisle JC, Matava MJ et al (2008) Upper extremity injuries in the National Football League: part I: hand and digital injuries. Am J Sports Med 36:1938–1944

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Orchard J (1993) Orchard sports injury classification system (OSICS). Sports Health 11:39–41

    Google Scholar 

  29. Sytema R, Dekker R, Dijkstra PU et al (2010) Upper extremity sports injury: risk factors in comparison to lower extremity injury in more than 25,000 cases. Clin J Sport Med 20:256–263

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Volpi P, Melegati G, Tornese D et al (2004) Muscle strains in soccer: a five-year survey of an Italian major league team. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 12:482–485

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Waldén M, Hägglund M, Ekstrand J (2005) Injuries in Swedish elite football–a prospective study on injury definitions, risk for injury and injury pattern during 2001. Scand J Med Sci Sports 15:118–125

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Waldén M, Hägglund M, Ekstrand J (2005) UEFA Champions League study: a prospective study of injuries in professional football during the 2001–2002 season. Br J Sports Med 39:542–546

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Waldén M, Hägglund M, Ekstrand J (2007) Football injuries during European Championships 2004–2005. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 15:1155–1162

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Woods C, Hawkins R, Hulse M et al (2002) The Football Association Medical Research Programme: an audit of injuries in professional football-analysis of preseason injuries. Br J Sports Med 36:436–441

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The participating clubs with all their players, coaching staff and medical staff are gratefully acknowledged. This study was supported by grants from UEFA, the Swedish Centre for Research in Sports and Praktikertjänst AB.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Football Research Group, Division of Community Medicine, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Solstigen 3, 58943, Linköping, Sweden

    Jan Ekstrand

  2. Department of Medical Health Sciences, Linköping University, SE-581 83, Linköping, Sweden

    Martin Hägglund, Henrik Törnqvist, Karolina Kristenson, Håkan Bengtsson, Henrik Magnusson & Markus Waldén

  3. Football Research Group, Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Solstigen 3, 58943, Linköping, Sweden

    Martin Hägglund & Henrik Magnusson

Authors
  1. Jan Ekstrand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Martin Hägglund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Henrik Törnqvist
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Karolina Kristenson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Håkan Bengtsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Henrik Magnusson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Markus Waldén
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Ekstrand.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ekstrand, J., Hägglund, M., Törnqvist, H. et al. Upper extremity injuries in male elite football players. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 21, 1626–1632 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-012-2164-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-012-2164-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation