This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Though uncommon, stress fractures can significantly impact RTP in young athletes
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Recent study data showed that although relatively uncommon, stress fractures can significantly impact return to play in the young athlete.
Researchers culled data from the High School Reporting Information Online system on 51,773 injuries sustained by student-athletes between the 2005-2006 and 2012-2013 school years. Data were evaluated for rates and patterns of stress fracture sustained per athlete-exposure broken down by gender and sport.
Overall, 389 (0.8%) of the total injuries observed were stress fractures. These occurred in 25,268,873 athlete-exposures, producing a stress fracture rate of 1.54 per 100,000 athlete-exposures. These rates were highest among athletes participating in girls’ cross country, girls’ gymnastics and boys’ cross country (10.62, 7.43 and 5.42, respectively), according to the researchers.
The lower leg (40.3%), foot (34.9%) and lower back/lumbar/pelvic region (15.2%) were the most common areas stress fractures were reported. The majority (98.7%) of stress fractures were treated without surgery, and stress fractures required 3 weeks or longer of recovery before an athlete could return to play in 65.3% of cases.
Girls were observed to have more stress fractures and higher rates of stress fracture (63.3% and 2.22, respectively) than boys (36.7% and 1.27, respectively). – by Christian Ingram
Disclosures: The authors received partial funding for this report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant No. R49/CE000674-01 and R49/CE001172-01). Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts