Key result
Over a 10-year period, 174 direct-contact internal organ injuries were captured among US high school and collegiate athletes, with the highest incidence in male football (IR 11.7 per 1,000,000 AEs).
Observational (n=174)
Yes
Direct-contact internal organ injuries in high school and collegiate athletes are infrequent but can result in severe outcomes, particularly in male contact sports like football.
May warrant heightened awareness in male football; leaves open targeted prevention studies in high school and collegiate contact sports.
CONTEXT: Although sport-related internal organ injuries among athletes are relatively infrequent, combining data sources enables a more comprehensive examination of their incidence. OBJECTIVE: To describe the incidence and characteristics of sport-related internal organ injuries due to direct-contact mechanisms among high school (HS) and collegiate athletes from 2005-2006 through 2014-2015. DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. SETTING: United States HS and collegiate sports data from 3 national sports injury-surveillance systems: High School Reporting Information Online (HS RIO), the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program (ISP), and the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: High school and collegiate athletes in organized sports. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Characteristics of the athlete, event, and injury were examined and stratified by data source and sport. Descriptive statistics of internal organ injuries via direct-contact mechanisms consisted of frequencies and incidence rates (IRs) per 1 000 000 athlete-exposures and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: During the 10-year period, 174 internal organ injuries were captured: 124 in HS RIO and 41 in the ISP; 9 were catastrophic. Most noncatastrophic injuries occurred among males (RIO = 85%, ISP = 89%), in football (RIO = 65%, ISP = 58%), and during competitions (RIO = 67%, ISP = 49%) and were due to player-player contact (RIO = 78%, ISP = 68%). The highest injury rates were in male contact sports: RIO football (IR = 11.7; 95% CI = 9.1, 14.2) and lacrosse (IR = 10.0; 95% CI = 3.1, 16.9); ISP: football (IR = 8.3; 95% CI = 5.0, 11.6) and ice hockey (IR = 7.9; 95% CI = 1.0, 14.7). A quarter of noncatastrophic injuries were season ending (RIO = 25%, ISP = 23%). Of the 9 catastrophic injuries, most occurred in HS (7/9) and football (7/9) and were due to player-player contact (6/9). Four resulted in death. CONCLUSIONS: Direct-contact internal organ injuries occur infrequently; yet when they do occur, they may result in severe outcomes. These findings suggest that early recognition and a better understanding of the activities associated with the event and use or nonuse of protective equipment are needed.
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Kucera et al. (2018) conducted an observational in Sport-related internal organ injuries (n=174). Direct-contact sports was evaluated on Incidence of internal organ injuries via direct-contact mechanisms. Over a 10-year period, 174 direct-contact internal organ injuries were captured among US high school and collegiate athletes, with the highest incidence in male football (IR 11.7 per 1,000,000 AEs).
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