A therapeutic exercise programme for patients with surgical repair after proximal hamstring avulsion: a case report with 3-year follow-up
Sammanfattning
Background: Surgery is commonly recommended for patients with proximal hamstring avulsion.
Rehabilitation is important, but there is limited knowledge of optimal rehabilitation post-surgery. The
purpose of this case report was to describe and evaluate a therapeutic exercise programme for a
patient with acute surgical repair after proximal hamstring avulsion.
Case presentation: A 53-year-old man was injured while waterskiing. Magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) verified a proximal hamstring avulsion, and he had surgical treatment eight days later. Seven
weeks after surgery, he started a therapeutic exercise programme. Performance-based tests and selfreported
questionnaires were performed 3, 6, 12 and 42 months post-surgery. MRI was performed after
12 and 42 months.
Results: At 6 months, the patient had returned to previous level of activity but reported some fear for
re-injury. He scored 92% (74 points) on the Lower Extremity Functional Scale and estimated his recovery
to be 100% on the Proximal Hamstring Injury Questionnaire. The isokinetic muscle strength test for
knee flexion showed a leg symmetry index of 99%. MRI at 12 months showed an intact tendon with
good congruence.
Conclusion: The described therapeutic rehabilitation programme for this patient resulted in normalized
physical function and he returned to pre-injury activity level at 6 months.