Case Reviews
Thigh Splints Presenting as Vague Hip and Thigh Pain in a Cross-Country Runner

Athletic Training & Sports Health Care  Vol. 2   No. 1   January/February 2010

By Christopher M. Miles, MD; Daryl A. Rosenbaum, MD

ABSTRACT

Thigh splints is a relatively uncommon diagnosis analogous to shin splints. This article reports an 18-year-old female collegiate runner who presented with progressive vague hip and thigh pain. Physical examination was nonspecific but magnetic resonance imaging of the hip and pelvis revealed a periosteal reaction described as thigh splints, or adductor insertion avulsion syndrome. Diagnostic options, etiology, and treatment recommendations are described.

AUTHORS

The authors were from the Department of Family and Sports Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC at the time this article was submitted. Dr Miles is now from Methodist Medical Group and the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Illinois at Peoria, Peoria, Ill.

Originally submitted June 15, 2009.

Accepted for publication September 23, 2009.

The authors have no financial or proprietary interest in the materials presented herein.

Address correspondence to Christopher M. Miles, MD, Methodist Medical Group at Washington, 205 N. Cummings Lane, Washington, IL 61571; e-mail: cmmiles@mmci.org.

doi:10.3928/19425864-20101222-07