# Osteochondrosis

- Category: chronic
- Review status: reviewed (every claim checked against a document named on this page)
- Sources: ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) class LD77 - condition scope only, no dose · No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care · Scheuermann Disease - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499966/
- Verified date: 2026-08

## Verified against

- No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

## Treatment metadata

- No drug therapy in primary care (Referral & Advice)

## Complete treatment card

```text
OSTEOCHONDROSIS
Sources: ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) class LD77 -
         condition scope only, no dose · No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary
         care · Scheuermann Disease - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf -
         https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499966/
Review status: REVIEWED against the source listed above  (2026-08)

IS IT THIS? - reference only, to read alongside your own examination
  SYMPTOMS - what the patient reports (4)
    - In this traction apophysitis, pain is a dull ache over the tibial tubercle that slowly worsens
      with activity
    - The onset is gradual, without any preceding injury
    - Pain settles with rest, easing within minutes to hours of stopping the triggering activity
    - Running, jumping, direct trauma to the knee, kneeling, and squatting all worsen the pain
  SIGNS - what you find (3)
    - An enlarged, tender bump is found where the patellar tendon inserts on the tibial tubercle
      [skin nodule]
    - Tightness of the quadriceps and hamstrings is a common predisposing exam finding
    - Resisted or passive knee movement reproduces the pain
  TESTS (3)
    - This is usually a clinical diagnosis, so imaging is not required unless the picture is severe
      or atypical
    - When ordered, x-rays classically show tubercle elevation, soft-tissue swelling, fragmentation,
      or tendon calcification
    - Comparing both knees on x-ray helps tell a true abnormality from a normal variant
  IF NOT THIS - what else fits (5)
    - Patellar tendonitis is on the differential for this condition
    - Tibial osteomyelitis is on the differential
    - Perthes disease is on the differential
    - Synovial plica injury is on the differential
    - Infectious apophysitis is on the differential
  Source  StatPearls "Osgood-Schlatter Disease" - disease-level clinical article
  Status  traced to the source above

1. NO DRUG THERAPY IN PRIMARY CARE (REFERRAL & ADVICE)    [1st line]
   Adult    A group of childhood/adolescent bone disorders affecting growth ossification centres
            (e.g. heel pain in Sever's disease, back pain and kyphosis in Scheuermann's disease),
            causing pain during growth spurts; most are managed with activity modification and
            analgesia, with referral for diagnostic uncertainty or progressive spinal deformity. -
            Refer, with advice
   Peds     Children follow the same pathway: recognise and refer. No primary-care medicine is
            implied.
   Source   No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care
   Why      A group of childhood/adolescent bone disorders affecting growth ossification centres
            (e.g. heel pain in Sever's disease, back pain and kyphosis in Scheuermann's disease),
            causing pain during growth spurts; most are managed with activity modification and
            analgesia, with referral for diagnostic uncertainty or progressive spinal deformity.
   Caution  Progressive spinal deformity (Scheuermann's disease), or fever, night pain, and weight
            loss which should raise concern for infection or malignancy rather than osteochondrosis.
            No medicine is prescribed for this in primary care - this entry is for recognition and
            referral. Anything given is decided by the service it is referred to.

Prices are indicative (dataset snapshot 2026-06); verify with the pharmacy.
```

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