Athletic Overuse Injuries in Children

Abstract

A 30-month prospective follow-up study of children's overuse injuries at an outpatient sports clinic was carried out to determine the number, profile, and specific features of these injuries compared with those of young adults. During this period 74 athletically active boys (≤15 years), 83 girls, 255 men (21-30 years), and 77 women visited the station because of an overuse sports injury of the musculoskeletal system. About one-third of the patients of each group did not seek medical help until more than 6 months after the onset of the symptoms. The injuries most commonly affected the lower extremities, with the knee joint involved in about one third of patients. In girls and women, the lower back (13%) was significantly more frequently affected than in boys and men (6%) (p < 0.01). Thirty two percent of all boys' overuse problems were classified as exercise-induced growth disorders and osteochondritic pains (apophysitides, etc.), but in girls only 13% had a similar basis. The most common diagnosis among boys was Osgood-Schlatter's disease (13 patients, 18%); in girls it was nonspecific synovitis of the knee (9, 16%).