Radiologic imaging of lower leg injuries

Abstract

Lower leg injuries are a common problem in athletes. One-third of injuries in long-distance runners are lower leg injuries (Brewer and Gregory 2012). The spectrum of lower leg injuries in athletes contains a number of injuries with very similar presentations. In a retrospective review assessing 150 athletes with exercise-induced leg pain, 33 % had chronic compartment syndrome, 25 % had a stress fracture, 13 % had medial tibial stress syndrome and 10 % had a nerve entrapment syndrome (Clanton and Solcher 1994). Another study among 98 patients with recurrent lower leg pain reported medial tibial stress syndrome in 42 %, chronic compartment syndrome in 27 % and entrapment of the superficial peroneal nerve in 13 % of patients (Styf 1988). This chapter aims to offer a few key points that differentiate between these injuries both in clinical presentation and in imaging characteristics.