INTRODUCTION: Hamstring injuries are one of the most common injuries in professional soccer players (Diemer et al., 2021). Infrared Thermography (IRT) is a technique that allows measuring Skin temperature (Tsk) and has recently been shown as a technique to prevent and monitor injuries in football (Côrte et al., 2019). The aim of this study was to describe the thermal evolution of Tsk asymmetries before and after hamstring injuries in professional soccer players. METHODS: 25 professional soccer players (age: 24.88±3.81 years; height: 1.78±0.05 m; weight: 72.32±5.57 Kg) from different top elite European professional teams were assessed before (15 cases) and after (25 cases) being diagnosed with a hamstring injury (biceps femoris, semitendinosus or semimembranosus) by physical examination and ultrasound and/or MRI. Thermal pictures from the hamstring region were taken using an infrared camera (FLIR T530) under controlled conditions and before training or treatment. ThermoHuman® software was used to extract Tsk asymmetries between injured region of interest (ROI) and healthy ROI. ANOVA multivariate analyses of repeated measures were performed to test for differences in Tsk asymmetries over time. RESULTS: ANOVA multivariate analyses revealed significant changes on the thermal asymmetry evolution between the data before and after injury occurred (p<0.01). The average Tsk asymmetry before injury was 0.12±0.36. We found a significant reduction in the assessments performed during the 48 hours after the injury (-0.61±0.28), and during the first 15 days after the injury (-0.57±0.33) when compared to the values before injury (p<0.01). The values later than 15 days after injury showed a progressive reduction in Tsk asymmetries: between 15 to 30 days after injury (-0.29±0.28), 30 to 90 days after injury (-0.07±0.24) and more than 90 days after injury (-0.04±0.29). CONCLUSION: Those results show a significant hypothermic pattern on the Tsk of the muscle region after the injury. During the recovery period, these values stayed significantly colder, coming back progressively to the values described before the injury. These outcomes show the value of Tsk as an objective indicator to describe the physiological evolution of the hamstring injury. In addition to that, the results show the potential of IRT as technique to add value and support return to play decisions.
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