CAUSES OF SCHLATTER’S DISEASE

CAUSES OF SCHLATTER’S DISEASE
Schlatter’s disease is a type of osteodystrophy and is characterized by the destruction of the nucleus and tuberosity of the tibia. There is also another name – osteochondropathy of tibial tuberosity. The disease is not too common, it is diagnosed mainly in children and adolescents at the time of their most active growth, starting at the age of ten and ending at the age of eighteen. It is more often diagnosed in male patients.

The causes of the development of Schlatter’s disease are often active sports in childhood and adolescence. Joints and bones inevitably get micro-injuries, which is the beginning of the development of this ailment. At the site of damage to cartilage or bone growth zones, foci of pathological bone growth occur. The process begins to develop in the presence of the following injuries:

fractures of the lower leg;
dislocations of the knee joint;
knee joint ligament damage;
damage to the patella (patella);
bruises, sprains.
SYMPTOMS OF SCHLATTER’S DISEASE
The symptoms of this pathology are often almost invisible in the early stages of the disease. The appearance of minor pain in the knee joint is often attributed by patients and their parents to ordinary fatigue. Meanwhile, the pain gradually increases, reducing the ability to lead an active lifestyle as a teenager. Therefore, if the following symptoms appear, it is necessary to urgently seek medical help:

pain in the knee joint – they manifest themselves during physical exertion or at rest, it increases with knee bending, squatting;
inflammation or swelling, painful when felt; occur in the area just below the kneecap;
as a rule, only one knee is affected;
the feeling of a build-up with careful palpation (in advanced cases).
For diagnosis, first of all, it is necessary to undergo a consultation and examination by a traumatologist or orthopedist. The diagnosis takes into account the age and physical activity of the patient. After collecting the patient ‘s complaints and to confirm the diagnosis by a specialist , the following examinations are often prescribed:

x-ray examination of the knee in frontal and lateral projections;
computed tomography;
magnetic resonance imaging;
ultrasound examination.
X-ray is the most common method of diagnosis. The images, as a rule, clearly show bone tissue overgrowth, which is the main manifestation of Schlatter’s disease.

TREATMENT OF SCHLATTER’S DISEASE
In therapy, the supervision of an orthopedic doctor (or surgeon) is necessary. Most often, the patient is prescribed medication and rest. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs are prescribed to relieve pain.

During the treatment of Schlatter’s disease, it is worth giving up active sports (usually a child suffering from this disease is exempt from physical education), it is recommended to spend more time at rest. In some cases, the knee is fixed for a certain period by applying a plaster cast or a special fixing splint.

Also, for the treatment of this ailment, physical therapy (exercise therapy) is recommended, which promotes the development of hamstrings and stretching of the thigh muscles and has a beneficial effect on the condition of the knee joint.

Physiotherapy is widely used for the treatment of joints. It allows you to reduce the unpleasant manifestations of the disease with almost complete absence of contraindications of side effects.

It is extremely rare and only in particularly neglected cases, surgical intervention is performed to remove the foci of growth and fix the tuberosity of the bone.

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