The fourth Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Panama City, the capital city of Panama at Estadio Olímpico Nacional.

These games were held 3 years after the last games, this was to get the games back to the year they should have been, after a 5-year break on the previous games.

The Games were held from 5 February to 24 February 1938.

They included 1,216 athletes from ten nations, competing in sixteen different sports.