Prevalence of Spondylolysis in Symptomatic Adolescent Athletes: An Assessment of Sport Risk in Nonelite Athletes. Issue 5 (September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Selhorst, Mitchell; Fischer, Anastasia; MacDonald, James
• Is Part Of: Clinical journal of sport medicine. Volume 29:Issue 5(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-09
• Subjects: lumbar spine -- low back pain -- stress fracture -- sport injury; Sports medicine -- Periodicals; 617.1027
• DOI: 10.1097/JSM.0000000000000546
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1050-642X

Abstract

Abstract : Objective: To assess the risk of spondylolysis by sport in nonelite adolescent athletes with low back pain (LBP). Design: Retrospective case series. Setting: Hospital-based sports medicine clinic. Patients: The medical charts of 1025 adolescent athletes with LBP (age 15 ± 1.8 years) were examined; 308 (30%) were diagnosed with a spondylolysis. Assessment of Risk: Risk of spondylolysis was assessed in 11 sports for males and 14 sports for females. Main Outcome Measure: Relative risk of diagnosis of spondylolysis injury. Results: The risk of spondylolysis differed by sex with baseball (54%), soccer (48%), and hockey (44%) having the highest prevalence in males and gymnastics (34%), marching band (31%), and softball (30%) for female athletes. Baseball was the only sport to demonstrate a significant increased risk of spondylolysis. Conclusions: The sports with the greatest risk of spondylolysis in adolescent athletes in this study were not consistent with published literature. Clinicians should be cautious generalizing high-risk sports to their practice, as geographic region and level of the athlete may significantly influence the incidence of spondylolysis in the population they are treating.