Osgood-Schlatter disease. What is it?

Osgood-Schlatter disease is an osteochondropathy of tuberosity of the tibia. This pathology is characterized by localized pain. Osgood-Schlatter disease is found mainly in adolescent boys. Doctors believe that this disease is partly due to the pulling, repeatedly repeated pressure of the tendon in the popliteal calyx, which departs from the powerful anterior muscle group of the thigh.

Most often, Schlatter disease occurs in boys ages 9 to 14 - 18 years. This process affects more often one leg, less often both.

Highlight a group of risk, which includes children who are intensively engaged in the following sports: wrestling, football, hockey, aerobics, weightlifting and other traumatic sports.

Osgood-Schlatter disease is characterized by such symptoms as:

• Pain in the knee during walking, squatting, pressing, physical exertion

• Swelling of the knee joint area (sometimes resulting from trauma)

• Local soreness of the lower part of the knee

• Knee edema and discomfort in this area

• There is a sharp pain in the front, where the tendon of the knee cap is attached to the tibia.

The disease occurs gradually, patients rarely indicate trauma as a trigger factor. For a long time, the only symptom with which Osgood-Schlatter disease is manifested is pain in the knee joint when climbing the stairs, bending it or moving. There are no general, laboratory and clinical signs of the disease.

After increased physical exertion on the quadriceps muscle (soccer, squat, etc.), there is a swelling in the region of tuberosity of the tibia. There is pain during squats, jogging and even walking. At rest the pain passes. The temperature of this region does not increase. The contours of tuberosity are smoothed out by the appearance of swelling, local pain arises when palpation. Exacerbation of it in this zone occurs with active extension of the tibia, especially when providing little resistance. With the growth of the child, this contour becomes more pronounced, embossed and its dimensions increase.

Osgood-Schlatter disease is diagnosed clinically, since the symptoms of this pathology are typical. X-ray examination is sometimes carried out to determine the degree of changes at the attachment site of the patellar tendon. On the roentgenogram the fragmentation or rarefaction of the proboscis process is determined. Ossification of the tuberosity is individual, which often complicates X-ray diagnostics: the clinic is the main indicator to correctly diagnose Osgood-Schlatter disease.

Treatment of this pathology consists of the following components:

• Immobilization and ensuring maximum rest of the limb

• Reduce physical activity to a minimum

• Electrophoresis with calcium and procaine

• Physical therapy and massage

• Sanatorium treatment

• Paraffin and mud baths.

Patients with this disease are helped by anesthetics and anti-inflammatory drugs, rest and ice. Over time, this disease usually passes (immediately after stopping the growth of the tibia). Patients are assigned rest, for which the use of rear plaster tires, removable tutors; Quartz and bathtubs are recommended.

In some patients who have suffered this disease, thereafter remain "pineal" swelling on the front of the knee. For their treatment, physiotherapy is shown, they are removed surgically less often - the affected areas are removed with bone allograft fixation. Operative treatment (removal of necrotic foci) is shown only in extremely rare cases.

The prognosis for Schlatter's disease is favorable.