Apophyseal injuries in children's and youth sports

<span class="paragraphSection"><div class="boxTitle">Introduction</div>The authors reviewed the current English literature regarding apophyseal injuries affecting young athletes, to highlight the frequency and characteristics of these injuries, to clarify risk factors and specific prevention measures, and to identify future research objectives.<div class="boxTitle">Sources of data</div>The authors performed a comprehensive search of the medical literature, using the Medline database, including all English articles. Various combinations of the Keywords ‘injury’, ‘sports’, ‘athletic injuries’, ‘avulsion fractures’, ‘physeal’, ‘physis’, ‘apophysis’, ‘apophysitis’, ‘growth plate’ were used.<div class="boxTitle">Areas of agreement</div>Growth benefits from a moderate physical activity.<div class="boxTitle">Areas of controversy</div>Growth deficit may occur in young athletes involved in intensive practice of sport following apophysitis.<div class="boxTitle">Growing points</div>Apophyseal injuries occurring during sport are less common than overall rate of injuries affecting the adolescent population. Growth disturbance occurs only rarely after an apophyseal injury.<div class="boxTitle">Areas timely for developing research</div>Further studies should consider analytical as well as descriptive components of apophyseal injuries, to allow the identification of new possible ...
Source: British Medical Bulletin - Category: Journals (General) Source Type: research