Lower extremity overuse injuries in pediatric athletes: clinical presentation, imaging findings, and treatment

Abstract

Paralleling the growing popularity of organized sports among pediatric athletes, the stress and intensity of training regimens has escalated the frequency and severity of pediatric overuse injuries. It is essential that radiologists have a thorough knowledge of the pathogenesis of these injuries and of their characteristic patterns with different imaging techniques in order to appropriately diagnose overuse injuries in the pediatric skeleton. Knowledge of the classification, mechanism, clinical and imaging manifestations of acute and chronic overuse injuries of the lower extremities common among pediatric athletes can assist in imaging-based diagnosis and characterization of injury.

Keywords: Development of the physis; Osteochondritis dissecans; Pediatric athletes; Pediatric avulsion injuries; Pediatric musculoskeletal radiology; Pediatric overuse injuries.