An elite athlete who is a pro football player has a career in the NFL on average for 3.6 years. Pro football players tend to sustain football injuries at much younger ages than the general population.
Two interesting studies were published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine in 2013 looking specifically NFL football injuries. The first article was published in August and it reviewed quadriceps tendon injury. The second article, published in September, looked at operative and non operative treatment of cervical disc herniation.
From the years 1994 to 2004 all the quadriceps tendon injuries were identified and reviewed. There were only 14 quadriceps tendon injuries in the NFL during that time period. Complete rupture of the tendon occurred in 11 players with a partial tear in the remaining three players. Quadriceps tendon injuries commonly occur in the general population in people older than 40 years of age.
Predisposing factors for a quad tendon rupture in the general population are:
- Male gender
- Use of anabolic steroids
- Statin use
- Locally injected steroids
- Prolonged use of oral steroids
Diseases such as: diabetes, renal failure, rheumatoid arthritis, and infection can predispose patients to rupture of the quadriceps. (more…)
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