Estudo comparativo das lesões musculoesqueléticas entre atletas de futebol profissionais e de categorias de base

Abstract

Introduction: The professional or non-professional practice of soccer can predispose the athlete to injuries due to the significant physical demands. Soccer is characterized by intense physical contact, short, fast and non-continuous movements, such as acceleration, deceleration, jumps and abrupt changes direction. Objective: To compare the prevalence and characteristics of musculoskeletal injuries among professional and youth soccer athletes. Methods: This is an observational and comparative study in which 114 soccer athletes from Atlético Clube Goianiense participated (32 professionals and 82 from the basic categories). The variables were obtained from the medical records and recorded in the Data Storage Form. Results: 73 athletes with injuries were identified during the 2021 Season, corresponding to 64,03%, 24,7% being professionals and 75,3% from the base categories. There were 109 injuries, given that some athletes had 2 or more. Injuries occurred especially in midfielders (32,9%), forwards (28,8%) and wingers (19,2%). There was a high prevalence of injuries, the most frequent being muscle injuries (n=49), sprains (n=29), trauma (n=13) and tendon injuries (n=12), mainly affecting the ankle (n=31), posterior thigh (n=20) and knee (n=19). In the Under-17 and Under-20 base categories, there was a significantly higher number of athletes with 2 or more injuries. Conclusion: The occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries requires care, including the development and insertion of prevention programs in order to reduce their amount and severity, reducing functional limitation and withdrawal from sport.