Adolescent Compressive Epiphysitis of the Spine: A Diagnosis for Adolescent Back Pain

Adolescent back pain is a difficult problem to diagnose owing to the variability in diagnoses that can stem from this symptom. It may be due to simple myalgias or something as complex as a neoplastic or infectious process, and the consequences of missing the latter are detrimental. The authors theorize that the increased forces seen in the lower back owing to posture in conjunction with the increase in smartphone usage over the last decade and heavy backpack use have led to an increased prevalence of a phenomenon of adolescent compressive epiphysitis of the spine (ACES). In this article, the authors describe ACES as a diagnosis for nonspecific low back pain in adolescents and reiterate the red flag symptoms associated with adolescent back pain that warrant further workup. Furthermore, they describe their treatment algorithm for these patients. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 33(3):135-137, 2024).