Increased Risk of Fracture, Dislocation, and Hospitalization Are Associated With Collision in Contact Sports

Abstract

Purpose: To quantitatively determine whether there is an added risk of orthopaedic injury attributable to the collision forces that athletes participating in collision-contact (CC) sports regularly encounter. Methods: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System was used to collect data on patients presenting to an emergency department with a contact sports-related injury between 2014 and 2020. Select contact sports were classified as either belonging to a CC or noncollision-contact (NCC) sports group based on involvement of frequent and intentional player-to-player collisions. Results: From 2014 to 2020, 25,784 patients with team-based sports related injuries presented to an emergency department, of whom 7,591 sustained an injury during a CC sport and 18,193 during a NCC sport. The CC group was associated with significantly increased odds of sustaining at least 1 fracture (odds ratio [OR] 1.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.35-1.52) (P < .001), dislocation (OR 1.2, 95 % CI 1.06-1.33) (P < .001), and being admitted into the hospital (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.34-1.86) (P < .001), compared with the NCC group. Conclusions: We found that frequent and intentional high-energy collisions associated with CC sports significantly increase the risk of sustaining fractures and dislocations. Furthermore, we found that that the injuries sustained by players engaging in CC sports required hospitalization at a significantly greater rate than those sustained in contact sports that do not involve frequent and intentional player-to-player collisions. Level of Evidence: Level III, prognostic (retrospective cohort study).