What kind of fracture is commonly seen in adolescent athletes?

The correct choice highlights the greenstick fracture, which is particularly relevant for adolescent athletes due to the unique characteristics of their bone development. During adolescence, bones are still growing and are not as mineralized or dense as those of fully mature adults. This immaturity means that when young athletes experience trauma, their bones are more prone to bending rather than breaking completely.

A greenstick fracture is an incomplete fracture in which one side of the bone bends and the other side cracks, similar to how a green twig breaks. Since adolescents often engage in high-impact activities and sports, they are more susceptible to this type of injury when compared to adults, whose bones are fully developed and more brittle.

In contrast, while stress fractures are indeed common in young athletes due to the repetitive impact from activities like running, they aren’t typically classified as true fractures in the same way that a greenstick fracture is. Comminuted fractures involve the bone being shattered into multiple pieces, which is less common among adolescents most often suffering from developmental injuries. Avulsion fractures occur when a tendon or ligament pulls off a piece of bone, which can happen in athletes but is a different mechanism of injury not specific to younger populations.

Thus, understanding the biology and development of bones during adolescence helps clarify