Higher risk for upper extremity injury seen in college football players after concussion
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Key takeaways:
- NCAA Division I football players had a higher rate of upper extremity injury in the year after a concussion compared with the year before a concussion.
- Shoulder injuries were the most common injury in the study.
WASHINGTON — Among college football players who had concussions, researchers found players’ odds of an upper extremity injury were twice as great in the year after the concussion compared with the pre-concussion year.
“NCAA football players are at a higher risk for upper extremity injury after concussion,” Carson H. Gardner, MD, said during his presentation at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting. “These findings correlate with a similar trend that has been demonstrated extensively in the lower extremities.”
To investigate the influence of sport-related concussion on the risk for upper extremity injuries among football players, Gardner and his colleagues used the Sports Injury Research Archive to identify 160 NCAA Division I football players who were diagnosed with a sport-related concussion between 2017 and 2021. Players were followed retrospectively for 1 year prior to concussion and for 1 year after the concussion, beginning 3 months after concussion.
Researchers found the odds of an upper extremity injury among the cohort were 2.36 times higher in the year following a concussion compared with the year prior to the concussion (26 injuries in the year after concussion vs. 11 injuries in the year before the concussion). Overall, the shoulder was the most injured body part (22 total injuries).
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Gardner CH, et al. Paper 61. Presented at: American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting; July 12-16, 2023; Washington, D.C.
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