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World J Clin Cases. Sep 16, 2026; 14(26): 125200
Published online Sep 16, 2026. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.125200
Published online Sep 16, 2026. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.125200
Subchondral stress fractures of the femoral head associated with military training: Clinical features and analysis
Yong-Feng Jiang, Department of Orthopedic, The 947th Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Kashi 844200, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
Yong-Feng Jiang, Bin Zhao, Department of Sports Medicine, The Fourth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100089, China
Jian-Bo Wang, Department of Orthopedic, Shijiazhuang Ping’an Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050021, Hebei Province, China
Co-first authors: Yong-Feng Jiang and Jian-Bo Wang
Author contributions: Jiang YF and Wang JB performed the data collection and analysis; Zhao B conceived and designed the study, supervised the research, and critically revised the manuscript; and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: During manuscript preparation, the authors used DeepSeek for language editing and proofreading. The authors reviewed and revised the AI-assisted output and take full responsibility for the final content of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Fourth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital (Approval No. S2020-371-01).
Informed consent statement: Due to the retrospective nature of the study and the use of anonymized patient data, the requirement for informed consent was waived by the ethics committee. This manuscript does not contain any individual person’s data in any form.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Bin Zhao, MD, PhD, Department of Sports Medicine, The Fourth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 51 Fucheng Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100039, China. zhao7202bin@163.com
Received: July 9, 2026
Revised: August 30, 2026
Accepted: September 17, 2026
Published online: September 16, 2026
Processing time: 80 Days and 0.1 Hours
Revised: August 30, 2026
Accepted: September 17, 2026
Published online: September 16, 2026
Processing time: 80 Days and 0.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This retrospective study compared subchondral stress fracture of the femoral head (SSFFH) with osteonecrosis of the femoral head in military personnel. SSFFH was associated with younger age, lower body mass index, higher training intensity, predominantly unilateral involvement, and less corticosteroid/alcohol exposure. Within SSFFH, Stage II had the greatest pain and functional limitation, whereas Stage III showed more advanced structural changes but lower pain and better function. Because these comparisons were cross-sectional, collapse alone should not automatically determine the need for arthroplasty; treatment should integrate symptoms, function, structural damage, treatment response, and longitudinal findings.