Osgood-Schlatter Disease

  • Aetiology
    • Tibial tubercle begins to ossify ~ 7-9
    • Children in the 11-14 year group have recurrent microfractures  at the apophysis & possible tendonitis
  • Examination
    • Pain directly over the tubercle
  • X-ray
    • AP, LAT & Skyline
  • Treatment
    • Generally treated with care & possible activity modification
    • At maturity if there is a free ossicle & pain persists, consider surgery to excise the ossicle
    • May be associated with a higher incidence of tubercle fractures
Osgood-Schlatter Disease, lateral radiograph of the knee in osgood-schlatter disease
Lateral radiograph of the knee in Osgood-Schlatter disease. Image by Lucien Monfils, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Reviewed by Professor Phong Tran, Head of Orthopaedic Surgery, Western Health. Last updated 10 October 2026.