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Mechanical movement mediated by hamstring and mechanism of injury

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

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Movement

  • Semitendinosus and semimembranosus extend the hip when the trunk is fixed; they also flex the knee and medially rotate the leg when the knee is flexed

  • The long head of the biceps femoris extends the hip

  • Both short and long heads flex the knee and laterally rotate the leg when the knee is flexed

Mechanisms of Development of a Hamstring injury

Strain is the typical mechanism of injury, and of all such injuries, the hamstring muscle complex is by far the most commonly involved (1)

  • it is poorly understood at which phase of gait hamstring injuries occur. However some studies have demonstrated that biceps femoris has a tendancy to tear during the terminal swing phase of the running gait (2)
  • the most common site for hamstring injury is in thebiceps femoris at the myotendinous junction. At the microscopic level the injury disrupts the myotendinous junction at the Z line between adjacent thin filaments

Hamstring injuries can also be considered in term of direct and indirect trauma:

  • musculotendinous injuries usually occur as a result of either direct or indirect trauma
    • direct trauma such as from a blow results in muscle contusion (bruising)
    • indirect trauma can occur as a result of alteration in the intensity or synergy of contraction, resulting in a single powerful muscle contraction
      • indirect trauma can also result from an overstretch of the musculotendinous unit leading to a strain, tear or avulsion
    • hamstring muscles are most vulnerable to injury during the rapid change from eccentric to concentric function, such as where the leg decelerates to strike the ground during running (2)
      • concentric function is where a muscle actively shortens in order to produce movement. For example, concentric action of the quadriceps, the muscle at the front of the thigh, straightens the knee to produce a kicking action
      • eccentric function is where a muscle generates active tension as it lengthens, braking a movement. For example, the hamstrings, situated at the back of the thigh, would function eccentrically to brake the kicking action.)

Click here for video about mechanism of hamstring injury

Reference:

  • 1) Koulouris and Connell Evaluation of the hamstring muscle complex following acute injury Skeletal Radiology (2003) 32:582-589 DOI 10.1007/s00256-003-0674-5
  • 2) Bryan C. Heiderscheit a, Dina M. Hoerth a, Elizabeth S. Chumanov a,Stephen C. Swanson c, Brian J. Thelen b, Darryl G. Thelen. Identifying the time of occurrence of a hamstring strain injury during treadmill running: A case study. Clinical Biomechanics 20 (2005) 1072-1078.

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