Published online Oct 18, 2013. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v4.i4.218
Revised: July 17, 2013
Accepted: July 23, 2013
Published online: October 18, 2013
While injuries of the upper extremity are widely discussed in rock climbers, reports about the lower extremity are rare. Nevertheless almost 50 percent of acute injuries involve the leg and feet. Acute injuries are either caused by ground falls or rock hit trauma during a fall. Most frequently strains, contusions and fractures of the calcaneus and talus. More rare injuries, as e.g., osteochondral lesions of the talus demand a highly specialized care and case presentations with combined iliac crest graft and matrix associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation are given in this review. The chronic use of tight climbing shoes leads to overstrain injuries also. As the tight fit of the shoes changes the biomechanics of the foot an increased stress load is applied to the fore-foot. Thus chronic conditions as subungual hematoma, callosity and pain resolve. Also a high incidence of hallux valgus and hallux rigidus is described.
Core tip: While injuries of the upper extremity are widely discussed in rock climbers, reports about the lower extremity are rare. Nevertheless almost 50 percent of acute injuries involve the leg and feet and most frequently are strains, contusions and fractures of the calcaneus and talus. The chronic use of tight climbing shoes leads to overstrain injuries also. As the tight fit of the shoes changes the biomechanics of the foot an increased stress load is applied to the fore-foot. Thus chronic conditions as subungual hematoma, callosity and pain resolve. Also a high incidence of hallux valgus and hallux rigidus is described.