Serious sports injuries requiring hospitalization seen in a pediatric emergency department
J. M. Davis, N. Kuppermann and G. Fleisher
Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA.
OBJECTIVE--To define the spectrum of serious sports injuries requiring
hospitalization seen in a pediatric emergency department. DESIGN--Trauma
registry and retrospective chart reviews. SETTING--Emergency department,
Children's Hospital, Boston, Mass. STUDY PARTICIPANTS--One hundred
forty-two patients with sports injuries presenting to the emergency
department and requiring hospitalization over 2 years.
MEASUREMENTS/RESULTS--Serious sports injuries accounted for 13% of
admissions for trauma, 0.6% of visits to the emergency department for
trauma, and approximately 0.14% of total encounters. Injuries included
fractures (77%), abdominal injuries (7%), multiple trauma (5%), cerebral
contusions or hemorrhages (4%), and dislocations (3%). The most frequently
injured areas were the extremities (69%), head and neck (16%), and abdomen
(3%). Compared with nonsports injuries requiring hospitalization, sports
injuries occurred in older patients (11.5 vs 7.3 years, P < .001) and
more often in males (83% vs 64%, P < .001). Sports injuries also
resulted in higher Injury Severity Scores (10 vs 8.8, P = .021) and in more
fractures (77% vs 51%, P < .001) and neck injuries (4% vs 1%, P = .002).
CONCLUSION--Serious sports injuries evaluated in the emergency department
affect predominantly male teenagers and result predominantly in fractures
involving the extremities. The spectrum of injuries is dissimilar to that
resulting from other mechanisms.
