[Stress fractures]

Bone stress injuries are due to repetitive mechanical overuse of the skeleton and occur as a result of microscopic lesions sustained when bone is subjected to repeated submaximal stress. Over time accumulation of such injuries can lead to bone failure and fractures. Stress-related bone injuries are relatively common among otherwise healthy persons who have recently started new or intensified forms of physical training activities. Stress injuries lead to typical findings on radiography, bone scintigraphy, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and need to be discriminated from other conditions, in particular infections and neoplasms. Stress fractures must be differentiated from insufficiency fractures that occur in bones with reduced mechanical resistance or disturbed structure.