Overuse Injury in the Young Athlete: Reasons for Concern

Kozar, Bill; Lord, Russell M.

doi:10.1080/00913847.1983.11708588

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…At follow-up, nine of 18 divers were active in competitive diving and the others were still training diving. The median age for the nine divers who stopped competitive diving was 19.8 years (range [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Three of them stated that they stopped competitive diving due to back pain.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Back pain and degenerative abnormalities in the spine of young elite divers

Baranto

Hellström

Nyman

et al. 2006

Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Several studies have been published on disc degeneration among young athletes in sports with great demands on the back, but few on competitive divers; however, there are no long-term follow-up studies. Twenty elite divers between 10 and 21 years of age, with the highest possible national ranking, were selected at random without knowledge of previous or present back injuries or symptoms for an MRI study of the thoraco-lumbar spine in a 5-year longitudinal study. The occurrence of MRI abnormalities and their correlation with back pain were evaluated. Eighty-nine percent of the divers had a history of back pain and the median age at the first episode of back pain was 15 years. Sixty-five percent of the divers had MRI abnormalities in the thoraco-lumbar spine already at baseline. Only one diver without abnormalities at baseline had developed abnormalities at follow-up. Deterioration of any type of abnormality was found in 9 of 17 (53%) divers. Including all disc levels in all divers, the total number of abnormalities increased by 29% at follow-up, as compared to baseline. The most common abnormalities were reduced disc signal, Schmorl's nodes, and disc height reduction. Since almost all divers had previous or present back pain, a differentiated analysis of the relationship between pain and MRI findings was not possible. However, the high frequency of both back pain and MRI changes suggests a causal relationship. In conclusion, elite divers had high frequency of back pain at young ages and they run a high risk of developing degenerative abnormalities of the thoraco-lumbar spine, probably due to injuries to the spine during the growth spurt.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to reach elite level, many sports require training with high intensity and with high load from an early age. Regular training of pre‐adolescents is therefore common [1, 21, 25]. Caine et al [7] raised a warning flag for the early selection of one sport and the early start of rational training.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back pain and degenerative abnormalities in the spine of young elite divers

Baranto

Hellström

Nyman

et al. 2006

Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The highly motivated athletes engaged at the international level seem to experience the greatest risk of multiple separate fractures, protracted healing, or fractures requiring surgery. The most important external etiological factors involved in stress fractures are training errors ("too much tob soon"), excessively hard training surfaces, and inadequate shoes (17,24,27,38,57). Of the intrinsic factors, the most important seem to be excessive pronation of the foot (forefoot varus, subtalar varus, tibial varum), unequal length of the lower extremities, pes cavus, and muscular insufficiency (8,16,30,57,60).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress Fractures in Athletes

Hulkko¹,

Orava²

1987

Int J Sports Med

247

114

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

During the 14-year period of 1971-1985, 368 stress fractures in 324 athletes were treated. The series contained 268 fractures in males and 100 fractures in females; 32 fractures occurred in children (less than 16 years), 117 in adolescents (16-19 years), and 219 in adults. Forty-six fractures were incurred by athletes at an international level, 274 by athletes at a national or district level and 48 by recreational athletes. Of the total cases, 72% occurred to runners and a further 12% to athletes in other sports after running exercises. The distribution of the stress fractures by site was: tibia 182, metatarsal bones 73, fibula 44, big toe sesamoid bones 15, femoral shaft 14, femoral neck 9, tarsal navicular 9, pelvis 7, olecranon 5 and other bones 10. Of the total fractures, 342 were treated conservatively and 26 fractures required surgical treatment. The operative indication was dislocation in 5 cases and delayed union/nonunion in 21 cases. The sites most often affected by delayed union were: anterior midtibia, sesamoid bones of the big toe, base of the fifth metatarsal, olecranon, and tarsal navicular. The athletes at an international level experienced the greatest risk of multiple separate fractures, protracted healing, or fractures requiring surgery.

show abstract

“…Top-level sports require training with high intensity and high loads on the spine, often from young age. Regular training of pre-adolescents is therefore common [15]. Training with the aim to reach elite level often requires monotonous and repetitive strenuous physical exercises, which increases the risk of musculoskeletal morbidity and/or disturbed growth [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back pain and MRI changes in the thoraco-lumbar spine of top athletes in four different sports: a 15-year follow-up study

Baranto

Hellström

Cederlund

et al. 2009

Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc

113

139

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A total 71 male athletes (weight lifters, wrestlers, orienteers, and ice-hockey players) and 21 non-athletes were randomly selected, for a baseline MRI study. After 15 years all the participants at baseline were invited to take part in a follow-up examination, including a questionnaire on back pain and a follow-up MRI examination. Thirty-two athletes and all non-athletes had disc height reduction at one or several disc levels. Disc degeneration was found in more than 90% of the athletes and deterioration had occurred in 88% of the athletes, with the highest frequency in weight lifters and ice-hockey players. 78% of the athletes and 38% of the non-athletes reported previous or present history of back pain at baseline and 71 and 75%, respectively at follow-up. There was no statistically significant correlation between back pain and MRI changes. In conclusion, athletes in sports with severe or moderate demands on the back run a high risk of developing disc degeneration and other abnormalities of the spine on MRI and they report high frequency of back pain. The study confirmed our hypothesis, i.e. that most of the spinal abnormalities in athletes seem to occur during the growth spurt, since the majority of the abnormalities demonstrated at follow-up MRI after the sports career were present already at baseline. The abnormalities found at young age deteriorated to a varying degree during the 15-year follow-up, probably due to a combination of continued high load sporting activities and normal ageing. Preventive measures should be considered to avoid the development of these injuries in young athletes.

show abstract

Overuse Injury in the Young Athlete: Reasons for Concern

Cited by 11 publications

References 12 publications

Back pain and degenerative abnormalities in the spine of young elite divers

Back pain and degenerative abnormalities in the spine of young elite divers

Stress Fractures in Athletes

Back pain and MRI changes in the thoraco-lumbar spine of top athletes in four different sports: a 15-year follow-up study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About