Epidemiology of Non-Contact Muscle Injuries in the Italian Male Elite Under-19 Football (Soccer) Championship

Abstract Background While extensive research exists on muscle injuries among adult football players, a notable gap persists in studies concerning younger footballers. The aim of the current study is to provide epidemiological data on the characteristics of time-loss muscle injuries in young football players participating in the Italian Under-19 male elite Championship (“Primavera 1”). Results Conducted as a multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study, this research gathered injury data from the 2022-23 season across 14 of the 18 Clubs in the first Italian Under-19 championship. The cohort comprised 391 players with a mean age (± standard deviation) of 18.0 ± 0.4 years. A total of 479 injuries were reported, resulting in 14,231 days of activity lost. Of these, muscle injuries were 209 (44%), accounting for 4,519 (32%) days lost. Overall muscle injuries incidence was 1.82/1000 hours, with a mean injury burden of 39.4 days lost/1000 hours. Almost all muscle injuries (206 out of 209: 98.5%) occurred in hamstrings, quadriceps, adductors, calf and iliopsoas. Hamstrings injuries were the most burdensome (18.8 days lost/1000 hours) accounting for nearly half of all days lost due to muscle injuries. Incidence and burden of adductors injuries (0.25 injuries and 4.1 days lost/1000 hours, respectively) were found to be comparable to calf injuries (0.24 injuries and 4.7 days lost/1000 hours, respectively). Iliopsoas injuries accounted for a noteworthy portion of the total, with an injury incidence of 0.16/1000 hours and a burden of 3.3 days lost/1000 hours. Injuries with myo-tendinous or myo-aponeurotic involvement demonstrated delayed return-to-football compared to those without such involvement (35.6 vs. 18.5 days, p < 0.0001). Conclusions The study highlighted a peculiar distribution of non-contact muscle injuries among elite young football players. While hamstring injuries were confirmed as the most burdensome, incidence and burden of adductors and calf injuries were found to be similar. A significant incidence and burden of iliopsoas injuries were observed. These findings suggest potential implementations for targeted injury prevention strategies in the Italian male elite Under-19 football Championship.