Medial tibial stress syndrome

Case contributed by Bahman Rasuli
Diagnosis almost certain

Presentation

Right leg pain

Patient Data

Age: 30 years
Gender: Female

Right leg

mri

Mild periosteal edema on the medial cortex of the mid to lower tibial diaphysis is seen on the right side. Bone marrow shows normal signal intensity.

The left leg shows the normal high signal of fat adjacent to the cortex.

Case Discussion

Periosteal edema is the most frequent imaging finding for stress injury. Also, usually, bone marrow edema can be seen. Nowadays, MRI is a very sensitive tool for detecting edema.  However, the final diagnoses of tibial stress injury, also known as "shin splints", depends on both imaging findings and clinical features.

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