Rehabilitation Protocols for Hamstring Injury Recovery in Athletes: A Scoping Review

This is a retrospective registration of a scoping review that maps rehabilitation protocols and rehabilitation-relevant exercise evidence for hamstring injury recovery in athletes. The review was not prospectively registered; the protocol and supporting materials are deposited retrospectively for transparency.

Purpose

To characterise intervention components and exercise dosage; to identify the criteria and thresholds used to govern progression and return-to-sport clearance; to describe the clinical, functional, architectural and performance outcomes reported; and to identify the main methodological and clinical gaps requiring future research.

Methods

The review follows Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and PRISMA-ScR reporting, with eligibility defined by the Population-Concept-Context framework (adolescent and adult athletes with hamstring muscle, musculotendinous or tendon injury; uninjured athletes only where the study directly informs hamstring rehabilitation or return-to-sport testing). Scopus was searched on 22 July 2026 (2016 onwards, English, open access), supplemented by citation searching and journal hand searching without date restriction (completed 28 July 2026, a documented protocol amendment). Two reviewers independently screened studies and charted data. No formal risk-of-bias tool was used; methodological features and evidence directness were charted descriptively. Findings are synthesised narratively because meta-analysis was judged unfeasible.