Le muscle du sportif

Traumatic muscular pathology is frequent in the athlete. Usually, these lesions heal spontaneously leaving no sequelae. One must be able to predict how long the healing process will last in order to avoid a long period of inactivity and to protect the patient from a recurrent tear. Medical imaging can define the precise location and severity of muscle traumas and detect critical elements that will delay complete repair. Sonography is the most useful and the least expensive imaging technique for analyzing muscular trauma. It provides a good study of muscle fibers, tendons, and aponeurosis but is limited in its poor visualization of the deep structures such as hamstring tendons and the difficulty in detecting muscular scar. MRI is the most sensitive imaging technique for analyzing muscular trauma. However, muscular fibers themselves are not visualized with MRI. It remains a secondary technique, adapted to the insufficiencies of sonography. Nevertheless, the exact place of medical imaging in traumatic muscular pathology remains and leaves the door open to many later studies.