Osgood-Schlatter's disease (OSD)

Last edited 12/2018

Osgood Schlatter disease (OSD), also known as tibial tubercle apophysitis, is a painful condition affecting the tibial tuberosity (1).

  • it is an example of an overuse syndrome associated with physical exertion before skeletal maturity.
    • prevalent in skeletally immature athlete  who take part in sports which involve repeated knee flexion and forced extension such as running and jumping, basketball, gymnastics, football
  • it is thought to be a traction apophysitis caused by multiple avulsion fractures of the secondary ossification center of the tibial tubercle (into which part of the patellar tendon is inserted) (2)
  • usually occurs around the pubertal growth spurt when the quadriceps has enlarged but the apophysis has not yet fused to the tibia

Males are more prone to the disease than females but symptoms present earlier in girls than in boys corresponding with their growth spurts (2,3)

Reference:

Related pages:

evaluation

differential diagnosis

management

chondromalacia patellae