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‘Twist and shout!’: internal oblique abdominal muscle injury in professional soccer

bjsports · 2026-02-12 · canonical JSON source

1 visible annotations · policy: published · automated confidence ≥ 75.00%

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Injuries of the oblique abdominal muscles are uncommon in soccer. They occur more in sports that involve trunk rotation such as cricket and tennis. 1 The external oblique muscle is the outermost abdominal wall muscle originating from the external surface of the lower eight ribs with muscle fascicles inserting onto the linea alba, the anterior half of the iliac crest and the pubic tubercle.2 The internal oblique muscle sits deep to the external oblique muscle; it originates from the lateral two-thirds of the inguinal ligament and thoracolumbar fascia with muscle fascicles inserting directly onto the lower four anterior ribs, the linea alba and the crest of the pubic bone.2 The action of the two muscles combined permits trunk rotation and lateral flexion.3 The internal oblique muscle is more frequently injured than the external oblique muscle.3 Clinical diagnosis of abdominal oblique muscle injuries can be supplemented by medical imaging, which can be useful to determine the extent and severity of the initial injury, as well as to monitor healing and inform return to sport decisions.4