Clinical approach to children with knee overuse syndromes

Abstract

Sports activities among adolescent athletes both increase the level of physical activity and the risk of musculoskeletal disorders due to repetitive biomechanical stress and overloading. There are several overuse conditions in young athletes described in the literature, while the knee joint is most usually affected. Knee overuse syndromes are one of the most common problems in childhood and adolescence encountered in everyday clinical practice and they arise as a result of repetitive microtrauma. The clinical approach to children with an overuse syndrome is different than in adults, according to different injury patterns and the fact that skeletal maturity is yet not complete in children. Conditions that are known to be the most usual cause of knee overuse symptomatology, such as Osgood-Schlatter disease, Sinding-Larssen-Johansson disease, patellar chondromalacia, and osteochondritis dissecans are usually treated conservatively, while surgical treatment is required only in the case of failed conservative treatment.