[Epidemiology of stress fractures from an occupational health viewpoint]

Stress fractures may occur after extremely high exercises in sports, military training, and occupational activities. The pathogenetic mechanisms include processes of material fatigue as well as repair capacities of the bone. By means of szintigraphic technique a sensitive tool for diagnostics of stress fractures is available. Recently, stress fractures of the vertebral processes only are acknowledged as a professional disease in Germany. As a rule, in orthopaedic and surgical practice fatigue fractures of other bones are considered as cases of accidental injuries.