Korean J Sports Med.  2011 Dec;29(2):122-125. 10.5763/kjsm.2011.29.2.122.

Low Energy Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for Stress Fracture of the Anterior Cortex of the Tibia

• Kim YB
• Ga HY
• Hwang JH

• KMID: 1987193
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5763/kjsm.2011.29.2.122

Abstract

Anterior cortex of the tibia is one of the intractable stress fracture sites ocurring in athletes, which are result of repetitive use damage that exceeds the intrinsic ability of the bone to repair itself. It is sometimes difficulty to repair the anterior cortical stress fracture, which result in delayed union or nonunion. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) can be an useful method in the management of stress fracture of the anterior cortex of the tibia. We present a case of an young athlete affected by chronic stress fractures of the anterior cortex of the tibia that received low energy ESWT. The clinical result was excellent and he was able to gradually return to sports activities.

Keyword

Stress fracture; Shock waves; Tibia

MeSH Terms

Athletes
Fractures, Stress
Humans
Shock
Sports
Tibia

Figure

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  Fig. 1. The bone scan shows increased uptake in anterior cortex of the right distal 1/3 tibia and in anterior cortex of the left proximal and middle tibia.

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  Fig. 2. The plane radiography show periosteal thickening with “Dreaded black line” (arrow) on lateral views of right (A) and left (B) tibia.

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  Fig. 3. The plane radiography show improved cortical break line (arrow) of anterior cortex of right (A) tibia and bone con-solidation of left (B) tibia.

Reference

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