489 MEP014 – Anterior cruciate ligament injuries in international competitors of Olympic sports

AbstractBackground Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in international competitors of Olympic sports have not yet been well investigated.Objective To determine ACL injury rates among international competitors of Olympic sports and consider prevention strategies.Design Cross-sectional studySetting Data analysis of pre-competition medical checkups at the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences for competitions held from the 2008 Summer Olympics to the 2022 Winter Olympics.Participants Overall, 7,067 athletes (mean age: 23.7 ± 5.4 years; 3,878 male and 3,189 female athletes) were included.Interventions Sports event and ACL injury history were collected.Main Outcome Measurements Injury rates were calculated as the number of ACL injuries per 1,000 athletes and compared in terms of age, sex, and sports event. Sex differences in injury rates and ACL injury numbers were examined using the χ2 test (P < 0.05).Results Overall, 326 ACL injuries in 253 athletes (107 and 219 injuries in 85 male and 168 female athletes, respectively) were observed. The overall injury rate was 36; the re-injury rate was 250. Sixteen-year-old male and 17-year-old female athletes had the highest injury rates (43 and 68, respectively). Female athletes had a significantly higher injury rate than male athletes (22 vs 53, P < 0.001), while the sex difference in the re-injury rates was not significant (235 vs 256, P = 0.123). High injury rates were observed among male athletes in rugby (99), skiing (78), and judo (71) and female athletes in rugby (202), skiing (157), and handball (146). Of all the injured athletes, 24.9% had multiple ACL injuries, including bilateral injuries, with the maximum number of times the injury developed being four. Conclusions Prevention focused on female athletes aged approximately 17 years who play sports with high ACL injury rates and athletes with previous ACL injuries is important.View this table:View inline View popup Download powerpoint Abstract 489 Table 1 ACL injury rate of each sports event (per 1,000 athletes)