Bone Stress Injuries: Diagnosis and Management

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Sports Medicine
• Radiology

Background:

• Bone stress injuries (BSIs) encompass a range of overuse injuries resulting from repetitive microdamage to bone.
• These injuries occur due to high physical demands on normal bone or normal loads on compromised bone, often seen in athletes.
• Conditions like relative energy deficiency in sport can compromise bone health, increasing BSI risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive overview of bone stress injuries.
• To discuss the diagnosis, management, and prevention strategies for BSIs.
• To highlight the importance of early intervention and risk factor modification.

Main Methods:

• Review of current literature on bone stress injuries.
• Discussion of clinical presentation, examination findings, and diagnostic imaging modalities.
• Analysis of management principles based on injury severity and location.

Main Results:

• Palpable bony tenderness is a significant clinical finding for BSIs.
• Radiography is the initial imaging choice, with MRI as the definitive study.
• Management strategies vary from conservative treatment to surgical consultation based on injury grade and risk.

Conclusions:

• Early diagnosis and intervention are crucial for managing BSIs and promoting healing.
• Optimizing modifiable risk factors like nutrition and training load is essential for prevention.
• High-risk fractures, such as femoral neck BSIs, require urgent specialist consultation.