Ultrasonographic assessment of spleen, kidney and liver size in licensed football players

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to find out the effect of training on dimensions of spleen, kidney and liver in licensedfootball players.Methods: The study group consisted of 53 licensed male football players and 52 male non-athlete controls. The visceral organmeasurements were evaluated by ultrasonography. Independent samples t test and linear regression analysis were used for statisticalanalysis.Results: The mean age was 22.11±3.36 years in footballers and 22.71±3.92 years in controls. The spleen’s transverse axis length(4.89±0.52 cm) and liver’s anteroposterior length (11.9±2.35 cm) were significantly higher in the footballers compared to thecontrols (4.42±0.65 cm and 10.39±1.9 cm; p<0.001 and p<0.001; respectively). However, the lengths of the long axis of theright kidney (10.3±0.86 cm), long axis of the left kidney (10.4±0.77 cm) and the transverse axis length of the right kidney(4.05±0.57 cm) were significantly lower in the footballers compared to the controls (10.69±0.68 cm, 10.97±0.68 cm, 4.35±0.74cm; p=0.012, p<0.001, p=0.02; respectively). Furthermore, weekly training time was negatively correlated with transverse axislengths of the right kidney (Beta=0.656; p<0.001) and of the left kidney (Beta=-0.275; p=0.042).Conclusion: We consider that knowing the normal sizes of the visceral organs of footballers will be useful in determining the appropriate diagnosis and treatment and in accelerating the footballers to come back to competitions.