Foot and ankle injuries in pickleball increased 6.5-fold from 2019 to 2023
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Key takeaways:
- Foot and ankle injuries in pickleball had a 6.5-fold increase from 2019 to 2023.
- Most of the injuries were traumatic, and Achilles tendon rupture was the most common diagnosis.
Presented results showed foot and ankle injuries in pickleball had a 6.5-fold increase from 2019 to 2023, with Achilles tendon rupture being the most common diagnosis.
“I think we can council patients and consider strategies to help mitigate injuries, [such as] pregame warm-up, stretching, etc., court shoes and, in the setting of instability, suggesting an ankle brace or taping,” Jeremy T. Smith, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, program director of the Harvard Brigham Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Fellowship and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said in his presentation at the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Annual Meeting.
In a cross-sectional retrospective case series, Smith and colleagues collected demographics, date of injury, laterality, diagnosis, treatment and mechanism of injury among patients with foot and ankle injuries that occurred while playing pickleball between 2015 and 2023. According to the abstract, researchers also calculated the annual incidence of injuries during the study period and performed a descriptive analysis regarding demographics, diagnoses and treatment approaches.
“From 2019 to 2023, we saw a 6.5-fold increase in the frequency of pickleball injuries, which certainly is what I felt in my clinic,” Smith said.
Among 198 injuries that occurred during the study period, Smith said the mean age of patients was 58 years. Most patients were men (58%), and around 80% of injuries were traumatic.
“Of these 198 injuries or patients, the vast majority were either gastroc injuries or the Achilles. We saw 78 Achilles tendon ruptures and then a number of gastroc injuries or Achilles tendinopathy injuries,” Smith said. “Almost 70% of the total injuries were of the calf.”
Smith said most common mechanisms of injury were running or lunging forward, having a planted foot while pivoting and an inversion mechanism.
Most patients were treated nonsurgically with immobilization, physical therapy or rest, ice, compression and elevation, according to Smith.
“Then, from a surgical treatment standpoint, 57 patients underwent surgery,” Smith said. “Most of those were Achilles tendon repairs.”
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Kingston K, et al. Epidemiology of pickleball-related foot and ankle injuries (2015-2023). Presented at: American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Annual Meeting; Sept. 11-14, 2024; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (hybrid meeting).
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