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Published on: September 25, 2014
Sports injuries in children
Chezhiyan Shanmugam1, Nicola Maffulli
1Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Keele University School of Medicine, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
Insights
Most pediatric sports injuries are minor and self-limiting, indicating youth sports are generally safe. Training programs should consider the physical and psychological immaturity of young athletes to prevent lifelong growth disturbances.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sports Medicine
- Pediatric Orthopedics
- Sports Traumatology
Background:
- Children's sports injuries impact growing bone and soft tissues, potentially causing lifelong growth disturbances.
- Understanding injury incidence, distribution, physiology, and prevention is crucial for young athletes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the incidence, distribution, physiology, injury characteristics, and prevention of sports injuries in children.
- To highlight the unique aspects of pediatric sports injuries and their management.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive literature search of Medline was conducted.
- Reference lists from relevant sports injury journals and textbooks were consulted.
Main Results:
- Bone biomechanical properties change significantly during growth, affecting injury patterns in young athletes.
- Increased bone stiffness and decreased impact resistance can lead to bowing or buckling fractures.
- Deformed fractures in children can remodel completely, with bones appearing normal later in life.
Conclusions:
- The majority of pediatric sports injuries are minor and self-limiting, suggesting overall safety in youth sports.
- Training programs must accommodate the physical and psychological immaturity of growing athletes.
- Adjusting training can help young athletes adapt to developmental changes and prevent growth disturbances.
Introduction:
Sports injuries in children affect both growing bone and soft tissues, and can result in damage of growth mechanisms with subsequent lifelong, growth disturbance. This clinical review unfolds the incidence and distribution, physiology, injury characteristics and the prevention modalities.
Methods:
A comprehensive in Medline literature search was performed, and the reference lists of sports injuries related journals and text books was consulted.
Results:
During growth, there are significant changes in the biomechanical properties of bone. In young athletes, as bone stiffness increases and resistance to impact diminishes, sudden overload may cause bones to bow or buckle. Fractures that are initially united with some deformity can completely remodel, and the bone may appear totally normal in later life.
Discussion/Conclusion:
Most injuries caused in children's sports are minor and self-limiting, suggesting that children and youth sports are safe. The training programmes should take into account their physical and psychological immaturity, so that growing athletes can adjust to the changes in their bodies.
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