Pediatric Sports Medicine: A Comprehensive Review

As participation of children in exercise and organized sports increases worldwide, the health care needs of young athletes differ substantially from those of adults due to age-specific physiological, biomechanical, and psychosocial characteristics related to growth and development. Pediatric Sports Medicine (PSM) is a pediatric-based, multidisciplinary subspecialty that encompasses preparticipation physical evaluation (PPE), exercise prescription, management of sports injuries and overuse syndromes, sport-related concussion, heat-related illnesses, assessment of sudden cardiac event risk, relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S), planning safe sports participation for children with chronic medical conditions, and safeguarding in sport. In the United States, PSM is formally structured through pediatric-based fellowship training and board certification, whereas Europe lacks a standardized model and relies on heterogeneous approaches integrating pediatrics, sports medicine, and rehabilitation. In Türkiye, sports medicine training remains largely adult-oriented. Given that pediatric subspecialty training is strictly based on prior pediatric specialization and that pediatricians are routinely consulted for comprehensive medical evaluations, the absence of a pediatric-based PSM structure has resulted in notable gaps in pediatric-specific PPE standardization, early sport specialization and load management, RED-S screening, integration of school-club-health care systems, and the health care component of safeguarding policies. This narrative review presents a literature-based synthesis of the conceptual foundations and clinical and public health rationale of PSM, summarizes relevant international guidelines and consensus statements, and proposes a feasible framework for its implementation in Türkiye, where this subspecialty has not yet been established.