Abstract des Autors

Objective: To review the cases of stress fracture seen over a 2-year period at a sports medicine clinic. Design: One hundred and eighty cases diagnosed as stress fractures on the basis of clinical picture and radiological evidence were reviewed. The following features of each stress fracture were noted: age, sex, site, sport/activity. Setting: A sports medicine centre in Melbourne, Australia. Patients: The average age was 21.8 years. Seventy eight of these stress fractures were seen in women, 102 in men. Results: The most common sites of stress fractures were the metatarsal bones (n=42), tibia (n=36), fibula (n=30), tarsal navicular (n=26) and pars interarticularis (n=17). The most common sport was track (n=54). Other common sports activities were jogging/ distance running (n=35), dance (n=32) and Australian football (n=14). The distribution of sites of stress fractures varied from sport to sport. Among the track athletes (n=54), navicular (n=19), tibia (n=14) and metatarsal (n=9) were the most common stress fracture sites. The distance runners (n=35) predominantly sustained tibia (n=15), and fibula (n=8) stress fractures, while metatarsal stress fractures (n=18) were the most common among dancers. The distribution of sports varied with the site of the stress fracture. In the metatarsal stress fractures (n=42), dance was the most common activity. Distance running (n=15) and track (n=14) were the most common sports in the group to have sustained tibia stress fractures (n=36). Track athletes (n=14) were particularly prevalent in the navicular stress fracture group (n=26). Conclusion: The distribution of sites of stress fractures in this study shows some differences from previously published studies. Verf.-Referat