Sport-Specific Injuries

During the Summer Olympics in 2004 the most frequent musculoskeletal injuries consisted of muscle strains, mainly of biceps femoris, gastrocnemius, adductors and rectus femoris, stress fractures (located mainly in the tibia, navicular bone and metatarsals) and knee injuries including isolated meniscal tears, ACL ruptures followed by more complex ligamentous injuries. Subtle muscle strains could be depicted by ultrasound whereas MRI was more accurate in identifying the extent of a more severe injury. The most common injuries at the ankle joint were lateral ligamentous injuries often combined with impingement, tendinosis of the Achilles tendon and plantar fasciitis, or tears, and stress fractures of the navicular bone and metatarsals. At the shoulder, rotator cuff tears and/or instability lesions were most frequent. Lower back complaints were frequent and stress injuries of the pars interarticularis were not uncommon.