{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T18:04:58Z","timestamp":1790273098138,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"BMJ","funder":[{"name":"NFL"},{"name":"Scientific Advisory Board"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Br J Sports Med"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To assess if the British Athletics Muscle Injury Classification (BAMIC) grade and sciatic nerve involvement on MRI at time of hamstring strain injury (HSI) were associated with the time to return-to-sport (RTS) in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I American football players.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Data were collected via a larger prospective cohort investigation of collegiate football players who sustained an HSI. MRIs at time of injury were assessed by a musculoskeletal radiologist using BAMIC. Sciatic nerve involvement was characterised by extent of adjacent oedema on MRI as no contact, partial (contacted by oedema) or complete (circumferentially surrounded by oedema). Spearman rank correlations, mixed-effects modelling and \u03c7\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      analyses were used to determine associations between imaging characteristics, HSI severity and days missed before RTS.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>96 unique HSI were included (100% male, mean age 20\u00b11.58 years). Increasing BAMIC grade was associated with longer time to RTS (r=0.29, p=0.004). Sciatic nerve involvement was observed in 75\/96 (78.1%) cases (35\/96 (36.5%) partial, 40\/96 (41.7%) complete), and no sciatic nerve involvement in 21\/96 (21.9%) cases. There was a significant positive association between sciatic nerve involvement as BAMIC grade increased (p&lt;0.001). While controlling for BAMIC grade, complete nerve involvement was associated with significantly longer time to RTS (33.7\u00b120.0\u2009days, p=0.01) compared with no involvement (21.5\u00b114.8\u2009days) and partial involvement (23.9\u00b116.3\u2009days, p=0.01). Partial sciatic nerve involvement (23.9\u00b116.3\u2009days, p=0.59) did not result in significantly longer RTS compared with no involvement.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Increasing radiologic severity, indicated by BAMIC grade and complete sciatic nerve involvement were associated with longer RTS following HSI. Sciatic nerve involvement on MRI should be considered in the assessment of acute HSI.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2026-111940","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T17:20:41Z","timestamp":1790270441000},"page":"bjsports-2026-111940","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Sciatic nerve involvement is associated with longer return to sport in collegiate American football players with acute hamstring injuries"],"prefix":"10.1136","clinical-trial-number":[{"clinical-trial-number":"nct05343052","registry":"10.18810\/clinical-trials-gov"}],"author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9172-7074","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kenneth S","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Miller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sam","family":"Mosiman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3085-4491","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mikel R","family":"Joachim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bryan","family":"Heiderscheit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0363546520922547"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00330-001-1164-6"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/1941738111403107"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2013-093302"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ptsp.2022.08.002","article-title":"The British Athletics Muscle Injury Classification grading system as a predictor of return to play following hamstrings injury in professional football players","volume":"58","author":"Tears","year":"2022","journal-title":"Phys Ther Sport"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2020-103791"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2709","DOI":"10.1177\/03635465241270281","article-title":"Correlation of Player and Imaging Characteristics With Severity and Missed Time in National Football League Professional Athletes With Hamstring Strain Injury: A Retrospective Review","volume":"52","author":"Day","year":"2024","journal-title":"Am J Sports Med"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1177\/2325967117713685","article-title":"Sciatic Nerve Injury After Proximal Hamstring Avulsion and Repair","volume":"5","author":"Wilson","year":"2017","journal-title":"Orthop J Sports Med"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.1177\/19417381231175880","article-title":"Hamstring Strains: Classification and Management","volume":"16","author":"Larson","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sports Health"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.10","first-page":"2449","article-title":"MRI findings correlate with difficult dissection during proximal hamstring repair and with postoperative sciatica","volume":"53","author":"Lin","year":"2024","journal-title":"Skeletal Radiol"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s13102-022-00520-3","article-title":"The development of a HAMstring InjuRy (HAMIR) index to mitigate injury risk through innovative imaging, biomechanics, and data analytics: protocol for an observational cohort study","volume":"14","author":"Heiderscheit","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4085\/1062-6050-0707.20"},{"key":"2026092410201701000_bjsports-2026-111940v1.13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1249\/MSS.0000000000002758","article-title":"Effectiveness of Hematoma Aspiration and Platelet-rich Plasma Muscle Injections for the Treatment of Hamstring Strains in Athletes","volume":"54","author":"Trunz","year":"2022","journal-title":"Med Sci Sports Exerc"}],"container-title":["British Journal of Sports Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/bjsports-2026-111940","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T17:20:43Z","timestamp":1790270443000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bjsm.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bjsports-2026-111940"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"references-count":13,"alternative-id":["10.1136\/bjsports-2026-111940"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bjsports-2026-111940","relation":{},"ISSN":["0306-3674","1473-0480"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0306-3674","type":"print"},{"value":"1473-0480","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]}}}