Background: Complete proximal avulsions of the hamstring muscle group may cause significant morbidity and loss of function. These pelvis-near musculoskeletal injuries are mostly acquired during sports activities in a hip flexion and knee extension. Here we present a study group of 6 middle-aged to elderly patients suffering a complete proximal hamstring avulsion and following early surgical refixation. Early surgical refixation leads to complete resumption of the activities of daily life without loss of function.
Materials and methods: The 6 patients (3 men and 3 women) included in this study had an average age of 59.07 +/- 4.47 years at the time of injury. All of them suffered a complete avulsion of the hamstring muscle group. Surgical refixation was accomplished with the corkscrew anchor refixation system (Arthrex Manufacturing, Inc., Naples, FL). The cases were retrospectively analyzed using a hip joint evaluation system, the Harris Hip Score, and radiological follow-up by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Data are given as mean +/- SEM. Student's t-test was used for normal distribution of the data.
Results: The mean follow-up time was 31.83 +/- 18.9 months (range: 10-118 months). All patients were rated not to have a significant difference in function compared with the uninjured side. None of the patients suffered any handicaps resulting from surgery or the injury. A complete consolidation in all patients was observed in the follow-up MRI.
Conclusions: Early surgical intervention and subsequent therapy in a complete hamstring avulsion injury may prevent loss of hip-joint stability and prevent the sequelae of degradative hip or vertebral events.