Injuries occurring in two female elite soccer teams were recorded during 1 year. Of 41 players, 33 (80%) sustained 78 injuries. The incidence of injury during games was 24/1000 hours, while the incidence during training was 7/1000 hours. The majority (88%) of injuries were localized to the lower extremities, with equal occurrence in the left and right legs. Forty-nine percent of the injuries occurred in the knee or ankle. Most of the injuries were minor (49%), while 36% were moderate and 15% were major. Of the major injuries (N = 12), 10 were due to trauma and 7 (58%) were knee ligament or meniscal tears. Overuse injuries constituted 28% of all injuries and occurred mainly during preseason training and at the beginning and end of the competitive season. Traumatic injuries (72%) occurred mainly during games with a predominance at the beginning of the competitive season. Almost 80% of the traumatic injuries occurred during physical contact with an opponent. Extrinsic factors such as weather, playing surface, temperature, or the position of the player within the team did not influence the injury rate. We conclude that female elite soccer players sustain a high incidence of injury. Few injuries were major, but 17% of the players sustained a major knee injury during the year.

In response to recommendations to redefine statistical significance to p ≤ .005, we propose that researchers should transparently report and justify all choices they make when designing a study, including the alpha level.

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Injuries occurring in three Swedish elite soccer teams were analyzed during 1 year. A total of 49 of 64 players (75%) sustained 85 injuries. The incidence of injury during games was 13 injuries per 1000 hours, while the incidence during training was 3 injuries per 1000 hours. Twenty percent of the injuries required hospital facilities. The majority of the traumatic injuries (93%) were to the lower extremities, with one third of the total injuries occurring in the knee. Overuse injuries accounted for 35% of all injuries and occurred mainly during preseason training and at the end of each season. Conversely, the majority of traumatic injuries occurred during games, equally distributed between the first and second halves with a predominance toward the end of each half. The position of the player within the team did not influence injury rate. The referee considered 28% of the traumatic injuries to be caused by violation of existing rules. Thirty-four percent of the injuries were major, causing more than 1 month of absence from training and/or games. Eleven knee injuries required surgical intervention revealing seven ruptured ACLs, of which three were chronic. At followup, 9 to 18.5 months after injury, 4 of 12 players with major knee injuries had returned to play at the elite level. The others had either been transferred to lower divisions or were still in rehabilitation.

Eighteen tenotomies of the adductor longus tendon were performed in 16 consecutive male athletes (aged 20 to 42) as treatment for chronic groin pain. The criteria for surgery was a history of long-standing (range, 2.5 to 48 months) and distinct pain at the origin of the adductor longus muscle, refractory to conservative treatment. At followup 35 months (range, 4 to 84) after surgery, all patients were improved or free of symptoms. All but 1 of the athletes returned to the same sport within a mean of 6.6 weeks, and 12 of 16 returned to competitive sports within a mean of 14 weeks after surgery. A majority of the patients (10 of 16) returned to full athletic activity, whereas 5 of 16 performed at a reduced level. One patient discontinued his sports activity due to other causes. In conclusion, when conservative treatment fails, tenotomy of the adductor longus tendon gives good long-term functional results in the treatment of chronic groin pain that is localized at the origin of the adductor longus muscle. A decreased muscle strength was observed in this study and did not seem to influence participation in sports.