A combination of initial and follow-up physiotherapist examination predicts physician-determined time to return to play after hamstring injury, with no added value of MRI.

Background: Previous studies investigating prediction of return to play after acute hamstring injury were limited by examining a single postinjury clinical and MRI evaluation. We evaluated the added value of including follow-up clinical evaluation when predicting return to play.

Methods: A range of clinical and MRI parameters were prospectively investigated for an association with the time to return to play in 90 athletes with MRI positive hamstring injuries undergoing a criteria-based rehabilitation programme.