Humeral stress fracture in a female CrossFit athlete: a case report

• Main Authors: Ivan R. B. Godoy, Eduardo A. Malavolta, Jan Stefan Lundberg, Jader J. da Silva, Abdalla Skaf
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2019-04-01
• Series: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
• Subjects: Shoulder; Stress fracture; CrossFit
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12891-019-2532-1

Abstract Background Humeral stress fractures are rare injuries usually related to sports practice and joint overload without a direct trauma. A proximal humeral stress fracture has never been reported in a CrossFit athlete. Case presentation We report a stress fracture in the humerus of a 22-year-old woman after intense CrossFit training. Patient’s previous medical history included amenorrhea and reduced Vitamin D levels. The patient was treated conservatively and resumed CrossFit training after she was advised not to until follow up imaging. Conclusions We present the MRI features of the case and emphasize the difficulties in diagnosis due to multiple possible causes of shoulder pain in a CrossFit athlete and by negative findings on early radiographs. Hormonal variations, Vitamin D insufficiency and the patient’s attitude towards exercise were important factors that contributed for the stress injury after weight-lifting in CrossFit.