Sports injury of the pediatric musculoskeletal system

Sports related injuries are common in children and adolescents, with a reported incidence of around one in ten children each year. Boys incur more and severer sports injuries than girls, and chance for injury is greater with contact or jumping sports. Sports injuries seen in children under 10-years of age are non-specific, including contusions, mild sprains, and extremity fractures, usually Salter fractures of the physes (growth plate) or plastic fractures. In the very young athlete, sports injury of the ligaments or muscle is rare as are spine or head injuries. With growth and adolescence, the intensity of sports involvement increases. Pre-pubertal children still have open physes that are prone to injury, both acute or due to stress from a repetitive activity. In addition to injury of the physes of the long bones, injuries to the physes of apophyses are common. Ligamentous injury is uncommon before physeal closure, but can occur. After the physes fuse, ligamentous injury is seen with patterns similar to adults. This review will include a description of sports related injuries seen in children and adolescents. We will concentrate on injuries that are specific for the growing skeleton, with a brief mention of those seen after fusion of the physes.