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Treating Osgood-Schlatter disease

Treatment for Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD), one of the most common causes of adolescent knee pain, should match symptom severity, according to the author.

Mild symptoms may require only patient education and activity moderation, while severe cases could call for rest or immobilization followed by rehabilitation.

OSD is a disturbance of the patellar tendon attachment to the tibial tubercle apophysis. The condition most commonly affects girls between age 8 and 13 years and boys between 10 and 15 years who participate in jumping and cutting sports such as basketball, volleyball, figure skating, gymnastics and soccer.

Typically, OSD is self-limiting, but it can last 12 to 24 months.

Patients often complain of pain at the tibial tubercle and swelling over the tubercle. The pain usually occurs during activity and improves with rest. On examination, knee tenderness is localized over the tibial tubercle. The patient usually has full knee range of motion with no effusion or instability and no meniscal signs. To exclude other conditions, range of motion at the hip and palpation of the inferior patellar pole should be assessed.