REVIEW  PEDIATRIC UPPER LIMB FRACTURE 

Minerva Orthopedics 2021 February;72(1):84-92

DOI: 10.23736/S2784-8469.20.04046-1

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Upper limb injures in young athletes

Davide BIZZOCA ¹ ✉, Lorenzo MORETTI ¹, Francesco RIFINO ¹, Daniela DIBELLO ², Biagio MORETTI ¹

¹ Unit of Orthopedics and Trauma, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Consorziale Policlinico University Hospital, Aldo Moro University, Bari, Italy; ² Unit of Orthopedics and Trauma, Giovanni XXIII Pediatric Hospital, Bari, Italy

INTRODUCTION: The upper limb is involved in about 15% of pediatric sports traumas, especially in athletes playing sports that require a recurrent and prolonged use of the upper extremity. This review aims to summarize the current evidence about the prevention, the diagnosis and the management of the upper limb injuries in the young athletes.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: From January 2010 to August 2020OVID-MEDLINE®, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Google Scholar and PubMed were searched, in order to identify relevant studies for further analysis. The main keywords were: “upper limb sports injuries” or “upper extremity sports injuries” and “young athletes” or “pediatric players” or “adolescents” or “children.”
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Thirty-four studies were included in the present review. The shoulder is involved in 45% of the upper limb injuries in the young athlete and the highest prevalence is observed in contact sports, throwing and overhead sports. Elbow injuries too are common in young athletes playing throwing and overhead sports; the main risk factors for elbow pain development include baseball play outside the league, arm fatigue during pitching and throwing more than 600 pitches during the season. Wrist injuries, including acute fractures, physeal injuries and overuse syndromes, are quite common lesions in the young athlete; overuse wrist injuries occur in wrist-loading sports, i.e. gymnastics, volleyball, tennis, field hockey, golf, rowing, weightlifting, diving, and judo.
CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric upper extremity sports-related injuries are quite common, in orthopedic clinical practice. In the last few years, big efforts have been made to prevent and adequately manage upper limb injuries in the young athlete.

KEY WORDS: Athletes; Pediatrics; Athletic injuries; Child; Adolescent; Upper extremity; Shoulder