Role of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging in the prognosis and classification of muscle injuries in professional football players: correlation between imaging and return to sport time.

Purpose: To study distractive muscle injuries applying US and MRI specific classifications and to find if any correlation exists between the results and the return to sport (RTS) time. The second purpose is to evaluate which classification has the best prognostic value and if the lesions extension correlates with the RTS time.

Methods: A total of 26 male, professional soccer players (age 21.