Diagnostic Pitfalls: Anterior Tibial Stress Fracture in a Professional Football Player - A Case Report.

Abstract

Introduction: Early stress fractures sometimes go undetected or are misdiagnosed due to unusual subtle symptoms; anterior tibial fractures are mostly tiny unilateral fractures involving the diaphyseal portion of the tibia as a result of repetitive microtrauma as deemed in intense athletes. Incomplete anterior tibial stress fractures are very rare, particularly when they occur bilaterally in football players.

Case report: Here, we discuss a rare clinical case of a sportsman who presented in our hospital. A 26-year-old professional football player presented to us in July 2024 with bilateral leg pain which worsened on playing football. The plain radiograph showed that the middle part of the left side tibial shaft anteriorly had higher density, while the right side was unremarkable; which was further investigated with computed tomography scan on left side on presentation and magnetic resonance imaging on right side on 3 months follow up.

Conclusion: A thorough review of the patient's history is essential when evaluating persistent leg pain associated with repetitive activities. Our report emphasis importance of early recognition and surgical intervention in seeking rapid return to play and be active especially in athletes.