[Stress fracture in athletes and prevalence of extensive rehabilitation].

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this work was to review the literature for the place of extensive rehabilitation for athletes with stress fractures.

METHOD: We searched the Medline and Embase databases using the keywords stress fracture, sports, rehabilitation, management and treatment. Only French and English articles were included, and articles about bone physiology, animal models, and spine and chest localisations were excluded. From 468 scientific articles, 62 were chosen because they corresponded to literary reviews or to therapeutic evaluations.

RESULTS

Treatment of stress fracture is justified according to risk factors, stress-fracture complications, the precocity of diagnosis, the therapeutic method and when the athlete needs to return to the sport. The most common treatment is discontinuing the sport, followed by rest. The progressive resumption of sport is rarely described but must take into account mechanical constraints that can be controlled by the use of shoes adapted to a supple ground. Some treatments such as immobilization by pneumatic splint surgery or use of electric fields are controversial.

CONCLUSION

Extensive treatment of stress fractures is mainly dedicated to high-level athletes who need to regain previous physical capacities as soon as possible.