Sacral stress fracture in an amateur golf player: a case report and literature review

ABSTRACT

Sacral stress fractures are rare injuries among professional and amateur athletes and are considered to be an uncommon source of low back pain. These type of fractures are mainly seen in competitive, high-impact sports, most commonly in long-distance runners. Sacral stress fractures are usually overlooked in young patients presenting with low back pain without any trauma history. Diagnosis of sacral stress fractures is often delayed because the history and physical examination of these patients are not specific and conventional radiographic images are frequently inadequate. A high index of clinical suspicion and further radiologic imaging such as MRI utilization can provide the accurate diagnosis. The treatment mainly includes rest, pain control, nutritional support, and biomechanical optimization.

Herein, we report the case of a woman amateur golf player with a sacral stress fracture who complained of aggravating low back pain. To the best of our knowledge, this appears to be the first report of a sacral stress fracture in a golf player and also the first case of this pathology in low-impact sports. Therefore, physicians should keep in mind that stress fractures can also be seen in low-impact sports. We recommend considering stress fractures in the differential diagnosis of non-traumatic, aggravating low back pain in golfers.

KEYWORDS:

• Stress fracture
• low back pain
• golf
• low-impact sports

Study limitations

A specific pain scale (i.e. Numerical Pain Rating Scale) was not used to quantify the patient’s pain. Another limitation of our report is that ‘Motion analysis’ has not been performed in this patient.

Consent statement

Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this Case report and any accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor of this journal.

Declaration of interest

No conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

No funding sources.