![]() ![]() Thirty-seven patients (18%) received facet or epidural steroid injections due to continued pain and one patient underwent a surgical procedure. One hundred ninety-seven patients (98%) returned to sports or similar level of activities. One hundred fifty-two athletes reported using bone stimulators as prescribed, and these patients showed a significantly higher rate of bony healing on follow-up CT scans than those who did not use bone stimulators. The first quarter of the calendar year had the highest incidence of injuries with the most injuries occurring in March and the least occurring in December. The primary mechanism of injury was weight training closely followed by a football injury. The most commonly played sport was football, followed by baseball/softball. The most common age of injury was 15 years old, following a strong normal distribution. ![]() Symptomatic patients after the treatment were referred for steroid injections and continued with the rehabilitation protocol. Subsequently the patients received 6 weeks of rehabilitation focused on core strengthening. CT scans were obtained for the 3-month follow-up visits to assess bony healing. All patients were treated conservatively with cessation of sports activity, thoracolumbosacral orthosis, and external bone stimulator for three months after diagnosis. Diagnosis was based on plain radiography followed by magnetic resonance imaging. Two hundred one adolescent athlete patients (62 females and 139 males) diagnosed with spondylolysis between 20 were retrospectively reviewed. Two hundred one adolescent patients ranging from age 10 to 19 involved in athletics OUTCOME MEASURES: Injury characteristics (age, mechanism, time), sports played, bone stimulator use, bony healing at 3 months on computed tomography (CT) scans, return to sports, corticosteroid injection use. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the optimal treatment algorithm for symptomatic spondylolysis in adolescent athletes and evaluate the functional outcomes of those undergoing the nonoperative treatment. Symptomatic spondylolysis can be successfully treated conservatively, but there is currently a limited consensus on treatment modalities and a lack of large-scale clinical trials. A higher incidence of spondylolysis is observed in young athletes. The etiology of spondylolysis and isthmic spondylolisthesis is generally considered to be a result of repetitive mechanical stress to the weak portion of the vertebrae. Spondylolysis is a defect of the pars interarticularis of vertebrae, most commonly seen at L5 and L4. ![]()
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