Quadriceps muscle injuries in athletes: a narrative review.

This article provides a comprehensive narrative review of quadriceps muscle injuries in athletes, focusing on the unique anatomy of the quadriceps femoris muscle group—comprising the rectus femoris (RF), vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, and vastus lateralis—and the spectrum of injury types encountered in sports. It emphasizes the pivotal role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in accurately diagnosing various injuries such as acute strains, avulsions, contusions, intramuscular degloving injuries, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and exercise-related signal abnormalities (ERSA), with particular attention to the complex anatomy and vulnerability of the RF. The review discusses injury classification systems, notably the British Athletics Muscle Injury Classification (BAMIC), while highlighting limitations in categorizing certain injuries like myoaponeurotic and degloving injuries. Understanding these injury patterns and imaging features is essential for clinicians and radiologists to guide prognosis, management, and safe return-to-play decisions for athletes across different sports and competition levels.