Abstract
Introduction:
Stress fractures are common overuse injuries in the lower extremities. Stress fractures are most commonly observed in the tibia (24%), tarsal navicular (18%), metatarsal (16%), fibula (16%), femoral neck (5%). Navicular Stress Fracture (NSF) is becoming increasingly recognized in athletes, with an estimated prevalence about 35% of stress fractures in the foot and ankle. The optimal management of NSF has been a matter of debate for the last decades. Earlier literature suggested that conservative management in the form of non-weight bearing cast immobilization had a comparable success rate with surgical management. This paper describes the best therapy of NSF in runner.
Objectives:
time to return to play (RTP), complication of NSF in future (non-union, mal-union, re-fracture).
Materials and Methods:
Our trial was an international, expertise-based. Details of the trial objectives and design have been published previously. Additional information about the eligibility criteria, interventions, follow-up, outcome definitions, and statistical analysis. To identify studies pertaining to the clinical results about our topic of systematic review, we reviewed the Cochrane, Pubmed, ScienceDirect databases for relevant articles published up to July 2023. We also reviewed the references of all identified articles to identify additional studies. Search terms were as follows: NSF, conservative, surgical, runner. Following the PICOS (Participants, Interventions, Comparisons, Outcomes and Study design) principle, the key search terms included (P) patients were professional runner with NSF; (I) patients were running as a professional runner; (C/O) time to RTP, complication of NSF; (S) Meta-analysis, cohort, case control, systematic review.
Results:
Results Literature search the flow diagram of study selection is shown in Figure 1. A total of 13 meta-analysis, cohort, case control, and systematic review, which one is better between conservative and surgical on NSF in Professional Runner. Discussions: Operative procedure of NSF provides a higher success rate, a lower re-fracture rate, and a lower non-union rate as compared to non-operative management options. The choice of therapy management also depends on the type of sport and target recovery time. Conclusions: Operative procedure is better than conservative treatment in management of NSF for runner.