P-79 Overuse sports injuries in children

Abstract

An overuse injury in sports occur as microtraumatic damage to the muscle-tendon unit or bone, bursa, articular cartilage, neurovascular structures, the physic due to repetitive movements of the musculoskeletal system, when rest period afterwards isn’t enough in those structures to adapt [1]. The incidence of overuse injuries in children grows as more children participates in sports - 50% of all injuries seen in paediatric sports medicine are related to overuse [2]. When is the right time of period when sports physicians need to pay attention to overuse sports injuries in children? A systematic search of the PubMed and EBSCO from 2011 up till 2016 including, was done using key terms overuse sports injuries, children sports, youth sports and young athletes. The search yielded a total of 301records. After screening of the titles and abstracts, 62 records( journal articles and book chapters) were included as likely meeting the inclusion criteria : overuse sports injuries in children(aged ≤ 18) : definition, epidemiology, pathophysiology, risk factors, presentation in youth sports, diagnostic methods, management and prevention. The author’s goal is to show the possibilities how to look for the best time period when to start examine young athlete’s exposure to overuse injuries and make prevention plan for them. Specific correlations appeared between overuse injuries risk factors and certain stages of a child’s life time periods and moments. The adolescent growth spurt is risky period of time for children who have sport specialisation. The degree of specialisation and time is positively correlated with increased serious overuse injury risk .There are sports where specific correlation with the typical overuse injuries during a given period are experiencing. Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea has higher incidence in female athletes, who afterwards had more severe stress bone injuries [3]. After author’s thoughts recent researches offers an interesting ways to establish time frames to start preventing children overuse injuries: individual genetic variations identification, which explains beginning of musculoskeletal injuries caused by athletic performance, epidemiological registration method for precise overuse problems statistics, knowledge of heart rate variability may provide a reflection of the body’s stress-recovery status, looking after overweight period, determine the year of peak height velocity[4]. Authors invites for further researches to establish guidelines for overuse injuries in youth sport. References Ward Keith” Routledge Handbook of Sports Therapy, Injury Assessment and Rehabilitation” 2015;520–521. Smucny Mia, MD, Parikh Shital N., MD, Pandya Nirav K., MD ”Consequences of SingleSport Specialisation inthe Paediatric and AdolescentAthlete”, Orthop Clin N Am 2015;46:249–258. Berz Kate, DO; McCambridge Teri, MD” Amenorrhea in the Female Athlete: What to Do and When to Worry”, Pediatr Ann 2016 Mar;45(3):e97–e102. Van der Sluis A, Elferink-Gemser MT, Coelho-e-Silva MJ, Nijboer JA, Brink MS, Visscher C “Sport Injuries Aligned to Peak Height Velocity in Talented Pubertal Soccer Players”, Int J Sports Med. 2014 Apr;35(4):351–5.