The physiotherapy management of muscle haematomas

Muscle haematomas may present in athletes following a muscle tear or contusion injury. The objective of this literature review was to examine the literature pertaining to the physiotherapeutic management of muscle haematomas. An electronic literature search was performed of the databases AMED, Cinahl, Embase, PEDro and Ovid Medline from their inception to April 2006. Human and animal subject, clinical trials, written in English, which could assist in the assessment of this topic, were included. Seventeen (of 7794) papers met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. The review concluded that few clinical trials have been published assessing the efficacy of these strategies. Furthermore, since numerous methodological weaknesses plagued the limited evidence-base, it was not possible to support or refute the application of different physiotherapy modalities, for the treatment of muscle haematomas. Further study is recommended to identify the best therapeutic interventions to treat muscle haematomas.