Sports Medicine Conditions and Services

With increased demands placed on a growing skeleton, young athletes are particularly prone to musculoskeletal injury. Young athletes can be at risk for both acute and chronic (overuse) injuries.

Doctors may be especially concerned with growth plate injuries, as well as those at joint surfaces and in muscles and tendons.

Areas of expertise for the pediatric sports medicine specialists at Children's Hospital Colorado include:

Injuries we treat

• Knee

  • Osgood-Schlatter Disease
  • ACL and other ligament injuries 
  • Meniscal cartilage injury
  • Osteochondritis dissecans
  • Anterior knee pain in adolescents

• Shoulder

  • Clavicle fractures
  • Labral tears
  • Rotator cuff overuse injury
  • Shoulder dislocation
  • Shoulder separation
  • Little-league shoulder

• Foot and Ankle

  • Growth plate fractures
  • Ankle sprain
  • Tendonitis
  • Heel pain/Sever’s disease

• Hip

  • Hip overuse injuries
  • Labral tears
  • Femoral acetabular impingement
  • Avulsion fractures
  • Hip dysplasia

• Back

  • Stress fractures (Spondylolysis)
  • Back strain
  • SI joint dysfunction

• Elbow/Wrist/Hand

  • Fractures
  • Little league elbow
  • Tendonitis
  • Gymnast’s wrist
  • Osteochondritis dissecans of the elbow

Procedures we perform

• ACL reconstruction
• Shoulder stabilization
• Arthroscopy/minimally invasive surgery
• Cartilage restoration
• Patellar stabilization

Conditions we treat

• Concussions
• Eating disorders in athletes
• Nutrition and supplement issues in athletes
• Exercise-induced asthma
• Heat illness

Acute injures

An acute injury generally occurs suddenly, usually as a result of a specific event that the athlete will notice immediately. Examples of acute injury include contusions, muscles strains, ligament sprains, fractures and dislocations.

Symptoms of an acute sports injury

• Sudden, severe pain
• Swelling and bruising
• Extreme tenderness to touch
• Deformity or obvious dislocation/fracture
• Inability to bear weight or use the extremity
• Difficulty moving the extremity

Growth plates can be particularly vulnerable to injury at specific ages. For example, acute growth-plate fractures usually occur in early adolescence when the growth plate is weaker than the surrounding ligaments. In contrast, older adolescents and adults usually sustain soft-tissue injuries such as ligament sprains.

Chronic injuries

Chronic injuries are also called ‘overuse injuries’ and occur when an area of the body is overused while playing a sport over time. Examples include stress fractures, tendonitis and growth plate injuries.

Approximately half of all pediatric sports injuries are overuse injuries. Overuse injuries tend to occur when tissue such as bone, cartilage or tendon is damaged by repetitive motion activities. Without adequate time for recovery, the tissue cannot adapt to the demands placed on it. The body responds to the repetitive stress with inflammation that damages the tissue and causes pain.

Athletes who specialize in one sport, particularly those who play throughout the year, are often susceptible to overuse injuries. In each consecutive season, repetitive maneuvers by certain body parts can lead to fatigue and injury.

Symptoms of chronic sports injuries

• Pain when performing the activity or sport
• Intermittent swelling
• Decreasing performance
• Dull pain even at rest