Tibial stress fracture in a male ballet dancer: a case report

Effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions for injury in ballet dancers: A systematic review

Background

The unique repetitive nature of ballet dancing, which often involves transgressing endurance limits of anatomical structures, makes dancers prone to injury. The following systematic review aims to assess the effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions in the treatment of injuries in ballet dancers.

Methods

The review was performed in line with the PRISMA statement on preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Six electronic databases (PubMed, Ovid Embase, Cochrane, Medline, PEDro, Google Scholar) were queried. The study populations comprised active ballet dancers and/or ballet school attendees with acute and chronic injuries and those with persistent pain. There were no restrictions regarding age, sex, ethnicity or nationality. The Modified McMaster Critical Review Form for quantitative studies was used to assess the methodological quality of the studies reviewed in accordance with the relevant guidelines.

Results

Out of the total of 687 articles subjected to the review, 10 met the inclusion criteria. Diverse physiotherapeutic interventions were described and effectiveness was assessed using different parameters and measurements. Overall, the results indicate that physiotherapy interventions in ballet dancers exert a positive effect on a number of indices, including pain, ROM and functional status.

Conclusions

Due to the small amount of evidence confirming the effectiveness of physiotherapeutic interventions in ballet dancers after injuries and methodological uncertainties, it is recommended to improve the quality of prospective studies.

A complete posterior tibial stress fracture that occurred during a middle-distance running race: a case report

Posterior tibial stress fractures are more frequent than anterior tibial stress fractures, and they are considered to have a good prognosis for returning to sports; cases leading to a complete fracture are rare. A 17-year-old male involved in high school athletics middle-distance running had a 3-week history of pain with training. He was running up to 300 km/week on streets and cross-country in an even distribution. He had posterior tibial stress fractures, but despite the lower leg pain, he continued running. One year later, he was brought to the emergency department after having sustained an injury to the right lower leg while running in a middle-distance race; bilateral tibial stress fractures, with one side complete and the opposite side incomplete, had developed simultaneously. This relatively rare case of bilateral posterior stress fractures, with one side a complete fracture and the opposite side an incomplete fracture, that was treated surgically via exchange intramedullary nailing is reported. The patient could begin light jogging from 3 months after surgery and was without symptoms at 5 months after surgery. He could resume middle-distance racing after 1 year. Posterior tibial cortical fractures are more common and respond better to conservative treatment than anterior tibial stress fractures, and they are a common fracture type in runners. We believe that close, careful follow-up is necessary if patients continue excessive training.

Medical attention seeking dance injuries: systematic review of case reports

The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of case reports documenting the epidemiology of unique and rare musculoskeletal injuries in dancers. A systematic review was conducted online using PubMed and Google Scholar, as per PRISMA guidelines up to July 30, 2016. Predefined eligibility criteria were applied, and the data thus compiled was analysed. Study quality was assessed based on CARE guidelines. 72 studies reporting 92 dance injuries were included in the review. The average age of dancers was 23 years (SD = 10 years) with majority being females (65%). Chronic injuries were the most common presentation with lower extremity injuries being the commonest. Foot and knee injuries were the top two articulations involved across injuries and groups. Overall bony injuries were most frequently reported, with stress injury being the most common type. Conservative approach was the most commonly reported treatment approach across case reports. The methodological quality of case reports included in the study varied considerably and lacked uniformity. The evidence provided, though not sufficient for any recommendation, it should alert the physicians and those concerned with the primary care of the dancers to be vigilant of the eccentricity and severity of the injuries, their atypical presentation, mode, mechanism and trend, thereby being prepared for the unexpected.

Plate Versus Intramedullary Nail Fixation of Anterior Tibial Stress Fractures: A Biomechanical Study

BACKGROUND

Anterior midtibial stress fractures are an important clinical problem for patients engaged in high-intensity military activities or athletic training activities. When nonoperative treatment has failed, intramedullary (IM) nail and plate fixation are 2 surgical options used to arrest the progression of a fatigue fracture and allow bone healing.

HYPOTHESIS

A plate will be more effective than an IM nail in preventing the opening of a simulated anterior midtibial stress fracture from tibial bending.

STUDY DESIGN

Controlled laboratory study.

METHODS

Fresh-frozen human tibias were loaded by applying a pure bending moment in the sagittal plane. Thin transverse saw cuts, 50% and 75% of the depth of the anterior tibial cortex, were created at the midtibia to simulate a fatigue fracture. An extensometer spanning the defect was used to measure the fracture opening displacement (FOD) before and after the application of IM nail and plate fixation constructs. IM nails were tested without locking screws, with a proximal screw only, and with proximal and distal screws. Plates were tested with unlocked bicortical screws (standard compression plate) and locked bicortical screws; both plate constructs were tested with the plate edge placed 1 mm from the anterior tibial crest (anterior location) and 5 mm posterior to the crest.

RESULTS

For the 75% saw cut depth, the mean FOD values for all IM nail constructs were 13% to 17% less than those for the saw cut alone; the use of locking screws had no significant effect on the FOD. The mean FOD values for all plate constructs were significantly less than those for all IM nail constructs. The mean FOD values for all plates were 28% to 46% less than those for the saw cut alone. Anterior plate placement significantly decreased mean FOD values for both compression and locked plate constructs, but the mean percentage reductions for locked and unlocked plates were not significantly different from each other for either plate placement. The percentage FOD reductions for all plate constructs and the unlocked IM nail were significantly less with a 50% saw cut depth.

CONCLUSION

Plate fixation was superior to IM nail fixation in limiting the opening of a simulated midtibial stress fracture, and anterior-posterior placement of the plate was an important variable for this construct.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Results from these tests can help guide the selection of fixation hardware for patients requiring surgical treatment for a midtibial stress fracture.

Preventing dance injuries: current perspectives

Dancers are clearly athletes in the degree to which sophisticated physical capacities are required to perform at a high level. The standard complement of athletic attributes - muscular strength and endurance, anaerobic and aerobic energy utilization, speed, agility, coordination, motor control, and psychological readiness - all are essential to dance performance. In dance, as in any athletic activity, injuries are prevalent. This paper presents the research background of dance injuries, characteristics that distinguish dance and dancers from traditional sports and athletes, and research-based perspectives into how dance injuries can be reduced or prevented, including the factors of physical training, nutrition and rest, flooring, dancing en pointe, and specialized health care access for dancers. The review concludes by offering five essential components for those involved with caring for dancers that, when properly applied, will assist them in decreasing the likelihood of dance-related injury and ensuring that dancers receive optimum attention from the health care profession: (1) screening; (2) physical training; (3) nutrition and rest; (4) specialized dance health care; and (5) becoming acquainted with the nature of dance and dancers.

Stress fractures of the tibia and medial malleolus

Tibial diaphyseal stress fractures are rare in the general population, but are more frequently seen in the athletic and military communities. The diagnosis of this problem may be problematic and needs to be considered in all athletes and military recruits who present with shin or ankle pain. The female triad in athletes (low-energy availability/disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis/osteopenia) should be considered in those women who sustain this injury. Management is usually conservative with a variety of rehabilitation programs suggested, but a pragmatic approach is to manage the patient symptomatically.

Surgical treatment of refractory tibial stress fractures in elite dancers: a case series

BACKGROUND

Treatment of tibial stress fractures in elite dancers is centered on rest and activity modification. Surgical intervention in refractory cases has important implications affecting the dancers' careers.

HYPOTHESIS

Refractory tibial stress fractures in dancers can be treated successfully with drilling and bone grafting or intramedullary nailing.

STUDY DESIGN

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

METHODS

Between 1992 and 2006, 1757 dancers were evaluated at a dance medicine clinic; 24 dancers (1.4%) had 31 tibial stress fractures. Of that subset, 7 (29.2%) elite dancers with 8 tibial stress fractures were treated operatively with either intramedullary nailing or drilling and bone grafting. Six of the patients were followed up closely until they were able to return to dance. One patient was available only for follow-up phone interview. Data concerning their preoperative treatment regimens, operative procedures, clinical union, radiographic union, and time until return to dance were recorded and analyzed.

RESULTS

The mean age of the surgical patients at the time of stress fracture was 22.6 years. The mean duration of preoperative symptoms before surgical intervention was 25.8 months. Four of the dancers were male and 3 were female. All had failed nonoperative treatment regimens. Five patients (5 tibias) underwent drilling and bone grafting of the lesion, and 2 patients (3 tibias) with completed fractures or multiple refractory stress fractures underwent intramedullary nailing. Clinical union was achieved at a mean of 6 weeks and radiographic union at 5.1 months. Return to full dance activity was at an average of 6.5 months postoperatively.

CONCLUSION

Surgical intervention for tibial stress fractures in dancers who have not responded to nonoperative management allowed for resolution of symptoms and return to dancing with minimal morbidity.