TY - JOUR
T1 - Performance and Survivorship of National Football League Players with Pectoralis Major Injuries
AU - Bodendorfer, Blake M.
AU - DeFroda, Steven F.
AU - Shu, Henry T.
AU - Knapik, Derrick M.
AU - Yang, Daniel S.
AU - Verma, Nikhil N.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors report the following potential conflicts of interest or sources of funding: N.N.V. reports research support from Arthrex, Inc., Breg, Ossur, Smith & Nephew, and Wright Medical Technology, Inc.; publishing royalties, financial, or material support from Arthroscopy and Vindico Medical-Orthopedics Hyperguide; stock or stock options from Cymedica, Minivasive, and Omeros; and IP royalties from Smith & Nephew; is a board or committee member for the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, Arthroscopy Association of North America; is on the editorial or governing board for Knee and SLACK Incorporated; and is a paid consultant for Minivasive and Orthospace. Full ICMJE author disclosure forms are available for this article online, as supplementary material.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Arthroscopy Association of North America. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine return-to-play (RTP), performance and career survivorship for National Football League (NFL) athletes sustaining pectoralis major (PM) injuries with comparison among grades of injury and between nonoperative and operative management. Methods: Publicly available data from the 1998–2020 NFL seasons were reviewed to identify athletes with PM injuries. Athlete characteristics were collected 1 season before and 2 seasons after injury. Percent of total games played in a season, player efficiency rating (PER), and Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades were compared for the preinjury season and 2 postinjury seasons. Kaplan-Meier survivorship plots were computed for RTP and postinjury career length, whereas a log-rank test was used to compare survivorship differences. Results: In total, 258 PM injuries were reported at a mean age of 27.1 ± 3.3 years. A total of 126 surgical repairs occurred in 48.8% (n = 126) of injuries, with athletes undergoing repair possessing a lower RTP rate and longer time to RTP compared to athletes treated conservatively (P <.001). Survival analysis revealed shorter career length for athletes sustaining PM tears compared to strains (P <.001), although no difference in career length was appreciated on the basis of injury management (P =.980). Defensive linemen and wide receivers had lower PER during their second postinjury seasons (P =.019 and.030, respectively), whereas defensive linemen had lower PFF grades during their second post-injury seasons (P =.044). Conclusion: NFL athletes requiring PM repair may experience a lower likelihood of RTP, and longer RTP timing, likely because of higher-grade injuries. Defensive linemen and wide receivers experiencing PM injuries are at risk for diminished performance post-injury. Career length does not appear to be affected based on injury management. Level of Evidence: Level III, cohort study.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine return-to-play (RTP), performance and career survivorship for National Football League (NFL) athletes sustaining pectoralis major (PM) injuries with comparison among grades of injury and between nonoperative and operative management. Methods: Publicly available data from the 1998–2020 NFL seasons were reviewed to identify athletes with PM injuries. Athlete characteristics were collected 1 season before and 2 seasons after injury. Percent of total games played in a season, player efficiency rating (PER), and Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades were compared for the preinjury season and 2 postinjury seasons. Kaplan-Meier survivorship plots were computed for RTP and postinjury career length, whereas a log-rank test was used to compare survivorship differences. Results: In total, 258 PM injuries were reported at a mean age of 27.1 ± 3.3 years. A total of 126 surgical repairs occurred in 48.8% (n = 126) of injuries, with athletes undergoing repair possessing a lower RTP rate and longer time to RTP compared to athletes treated conservatively (P <.001). Survival analysis revealed shorter career length for athletes sustaining PM tears compared to strains (P <.001), although no difference in career length was appreciated on the basis of injury management (P =.980). Defensive linemen and wide receivers had lower PER during their second postinjury seasons (P =.019 and.030, respectively), whereas defensive linemen had lower PFF grades during their second post-injury seasons (P =.044). Conclusion: NFL athletes requiring PM repair may experience a lower likelihood of RTP, and longer RTP timing, likely because of higher-grade injuries. Defensive linemen and wide receivers experiencing PM injuries are at risk for diminished performance post-injury. Career length does not appear to be affected based on injury management. Level of Evidence: Level III, cohort study.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112400318&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.asmr.2021.03.015
DO - 10.1016/j.asmr.2021.03.015
M3 - Article
C2 - 34430889
AN - SCOPUS:85112400318
SN - 2666-061X
VL - 3
SP - e1097-e1104
JO - Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation
JF - Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine, and Rehabilitation
IS - 4
ER -