ABSTRACT

A 13-year-old male competitive club soccer player with a history of bilateral Osgood-Schlatter’s over the past 6-months reported unusually high fatigue and right heel pain after a match. Over the next 4 days, fever developed and persisted despite anti-pyretics. Right heel pain, warmth, and redness increased until weight bearing was not tolerated. Subsequent imaging and blood work eventually lead to a calcaneal osteomyelitis diagnosis. A bone biopsy procedure and a six week course of antibiotics were completed. The rehabilitation and conditioning plan, which was successful, was based on assessment findings and targeted a return to sport 12 weeks post surgery. Interprofessional collaboration was key for the diagnosis and effective medical treatment. Rehabilitation and conditioning protocol development was challenging as i) no post surgical rehabilitation protocol for a calcaneal osteomyelitis patient wishing to return to sport has been described and ii) the impact of post-injury rehabilitation on training load is poorly documented.