Hip Injuries in the Adolescent Athlete

Abstract

This article provides concise and up-to-date information on the most common hip pathologies that affect adolescent athletes. We cover the evaluation and treatment of avulsion injuries, stress fractures, slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE), femoroacetabular impingement, developmental dysplasia of the hip, Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, and coxa saltans focusing on minimizing advanced imaging and using conservative therapy when applicable. Although this is not an all-encompassing list of disorders, it is key to understand these hip pathologies because these injuries occur commonly and can also have detrimental complications if not diagnosed and addressed early, especially SCFE and femoral neck stress fractures.

Keywords: Adolescent athletic hip; Apophyseal avulsion; Coxa saltans; Developmental dysplasia of the hip; Femoroacetabular impingement; Legg-Calve-Perthes disease; Pediatric sports injuries; Slipped capital femoral epiphysis.