title: Calf injuries in professional football: Treat the patient or the scan? - A case study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe a case of a professional football player with significant imaging findings despite a rather innocuous clinical presentation with gradual onset of calf pain and who was able to continue training and playing with minor medical intervention. To discuss some of the limitations of existing muscle injury grading systems and their potential to cover the full range of injury presentations for calf injuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case report.
  
  
  METHODS
  A professional football player was assessed by physical examination, clinical testing and imaging (MRI) after a gradual onset of a calf injury. After returning to training and competition, a follow-up of his symptoms was performed with regular ultrasound imaging assessments.
  
  
  METHODS
  A professional football player (35 years, 1.90 m, 88 kg) male, African, striker, playing in the Professional Arabian Gulf League.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The discordance between the clinical presentation and the imaging findings resulted in a challenging situation regarding the decision of whether to allow the player to train and compete. In addition, existing muscle injury grading systems do not seem to cover the full range of injuries seen in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Football Medicine, Rua de S. Pedro 534 Azurém, Guimarães, Portugal; Dragon Clinic EM Sports Centre, FIFA Medical Centre of Excellency, Dragon Stadium, Porto, Portugal; Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: footballmedicine@footballmedicine.net.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barreira
authors.affiliation: Corades, LLC, Brookline, MA, USA; Corades, LLC, Madrid, Spain; Longwood MRI Specialists, Brookline, MA, USA; Madrid Open Tennis, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: Kassarjian@me.com.
authors.forename: Ara
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kassarjian
authors.affiliation: Football Medicine, Rua de S. Pedro 534 Azurém, Guimarães, Portugal; Dragon Clinic EM Sports Centre, FIFA Medical Centre of Excellency, Dragon Stadium, Porto, Portugal; Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: footballmedicine@footballmedicine.net.
authors.forename: João Pedro
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.affiliation: Football Medicine, Rua de S. Pedro 534 Azurém, Guimarães, Portugal; Dragon Clinic EM Sports Centre, FIFA Medical Centre of Excellency, Dragon Stadium, Porto, Portugal; Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Kinesio Taping Association International, USA. Electronic address: footballmedicine@footballmedicine.net.
authors.forename: Ruben
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Minho University, 3B's ICBS, Braga, Portugal; Dragon Clinic EM Sports Centre, FIFA Medical Centre of Excellency, Dragon Stadium, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: jem@espregueira.com.
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Espregueira Mendes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007869:Leg Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D012916:Soccer / Q000293:injuries*; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional
keywords: Calf injury; Football; Imaging; Muscle