Knee injuries leading cause of high school sports-related surgeries

Knee injuries are the leading cause of high school sports-related surgeries, according to a study conducted at the Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

The study is one of the first to compare high school knee injuries by sport and gender.

The researchers compared data from the High School Reporting Information Online (RIO) injury surveillance system, which collected injury reports on nine high school sports from certified athletic trainers at 100 U.S. high schools. Data were collected for boys’ football, soccer, basketball, baseball and wrestling, as well as girls’ soccer, volleyball, basketball and softball.

The findings appeared in the June issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine.

The knee was the second most frequently injured body site overall, with boys’ football and wrestling and girls’ soccer and basketball recording the highest rates of knee injury. The most common knee injuries were incomplete ligament tears, contusions, complete ligament tears, torn cartilage, fractures/dislocations and muscle tears.

“Knee injuries in high school athletes are a significant area for concern,” R. Dawn Comstock, PhD, CIRP principal investigator, faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and one of the study authors, said in a press release. “Knee injuries accounted for nearly 45% of all sports injury-related surgeries in our study.

“Knee surgeries are often costly procedures that can require extensive and expensive postsurgery rehabilitation and can increase risk for early onset osteoarthritis. Without effective interventions, the burden of knee surgeries and rehabilitation will continue to escalate as the number of high school athletes continues to grow,” she said in the press release.

Researchers also found several interesting gender patterns. For example, while boys had a higher overall rate of knee injury, girls’ knee injuries were more severe, according to the press release. Girls were more likely to miss more than 3 weeks of sports activity (as opposed to less than 1 week for boys), and were twice as likely to require surgery.

Girls were also found to be twice as likely to incur major knee injuries as a result of non-contact movements, including landing, jumping or pivoting.

“Parents of young female athletes should not overreact to these findings, however,” Comstock said in the press release. “The long-term negative health effects of a sedentary lifestyle far outweigh those of the vast majority of sports injuries.”

For more information:
Ingram JG, Fields SK, Yard EE, Comstock RD. Epidemiology of knee injuries among boys and girls in U.S. high school athletics. Amer J Sports Med. 2008;36:1116-1122.