Bilateral distal tibial stress fracture in a triathlete

Abstract

Stress fractures are common injuries in athletes. They result from excessive, repetitive loads on the normal bone which can cause an imbalance between bone resorption and formation, because during periods of intense exercise, bone formation lags behind bone resorption. The most common locations for stress fractures are weight-bearing bones of the lower extremities. This kind of injuries can easily be missed because they usually do not follow an acute injury in a fit young athlete, and plain radiographs usually appear normal. In this paper, a case of an amateur triathlete who suffered from a bilateral distal tibial stress fracture is presented.