Spectrum and patterns of shoulder pathology on MRI in symptomatic elite wheelchair basketball athletes.

BACKGROUND: Wheelchair basketball (WCB) is a popular para-sport adapted for athletes with physical disabilities. Shoulder injuries are commonly reported among WCB athletes. However, the understanding of the specific patterns and characteristics of shoulder injuries in WCB players is currently limited, and there is a lack of comprehensive literature available on this subject. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the spectrum of pathologies observed in elite wheelchair basketball (WCB) athletes referred for MRI evaluation of symptomatic injuries of the shoulder. METHODS: Retrospective review of consecutive elite WCB athletes referred for MRI evaluation of symptomatic shoulder injury. Demographic, clinical, and functional data including international wheelchair basketball federation (IWBF) classification of each athlete were collected. A total of 28 MRI studies were reviewed. Excluding MRI examinations of the same shoulder, 18 study cases were assessed for pathology of the rotator cuff (RC), labrum, long-head of biceps tendon, glenohumeral and acromioclavicular joints, and osseous lesions of the humerus or glenoid. Correlations between clinical-demographic features and MRI findings were statistically evaluated. RESULTS: Supraspinatus tears were observed in 72.2%, infraspinatus tears in 50%, and subscapularis tears in 38.9% shoulders. Articular-sided partial tears frequently involved posterior supraspinatus (88.9%) and anterior infraspinatus (100%). Labral tears were seen in 38.9%, with involvement of the posterosuperior labrum in all tears. Hill-Sachs and osseous Bankart lesions (5.6%), and anterior-inferior labral tears (11.1%), were uncommon findings. Statistically significant correlations were observed of low IWBF point class and non-ambulatory athletes with subscapularis tendinosis (p = 0.015, p = 0.001) and tearing (p = 0.050, p = 0.013), and athletes with limited trunk control with subscapularis tendinosis (p = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: RC tears are common in elite WCB athletes with pattern of RC and labral tearing suggesting internal (superior-posterior) impingement as a contributory pathoetiologic mechanism. Non-ambulatory, low IWBF point class athletes, as well as those with limited trunk control have a statistically significant increase in subscapularis tendon pathology on MRI.

Avenues for prevention using the epidemiology of sport-related concussion from a large high school surveillance study.

OBJECTIVE: Epidemiology provides fundamental opportunities to protect student-athlete health. The goal of this study was to describe the epidemiology of sport-related concussion (SRC) across 8 years (2015/2016-2022/2023) and compare boys' and girls' sports for SRC incidence and SRC mechanisms. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study performed using a statewide high school head injury surveillance system of high school student-athletes (n = 2,182,128; boys, n = 1,267,389; girls, n = 914,739). Exposures of interest included study year and boys and girls in comparable sports. Clinical incidence was calculated by dividing SRC counts in each sport by the number of participants per 100 player-seasons and presented with 95% CIs. The 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 data were included in the analysis, however caution is warranted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical incidence ratios (CIRs) were estimated for sex-comparable sports, and significance was determined if 95% CIs excluded 1.00. The authors compared mechanism of injury in boys' and girls' comparable sports with chi-square analyses (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Among 25,482 total SRCs, the overall clinical incidence of SRC for all boys and girls was 1.17 (95% CI 1.15-1.18) per 100 player-seasons across all years. Across all years, the overall clinical incidence in boys' sports was 1.34 (95% CI 1.32-1.36) per 100 player-seasons, and 0.93 (95% CI 0.91-0.95) per 100 player-seasons in girls' sports. Boys' sports with the highest clinical incidence included football, ice hockey, and wrestling. Girls' sports with the highest clinical incidence included basketball, soccer, lacrosse, competitive cheer, and gymnastics. Girls consistently had higher SRC rates relative to boys for baseball/softball, basketball, and soccer (CIR range 1.65 [95% CI 1.41-1.93] to 3.32 [95% CI 2.67-4.16]). Girls had lower SRC in lacrosse in 2015/2016 (CIR 0.63, 95% CI 0.40-0.97); no difference in 2016/2017-2020/2021, but had higher clinical incidence in 2021/2022 (CIR 1.69, 95% CI 1.18-2.44) relative to boys. In boys the most common mechanism of SRC occurred from person-to-person contact (n = 8752, 62.8%), whereas girls commonly sustained SRC from person-to-object contact (n = 2369, 33.4%) and from person-to-person contact (n = 2368, 33.4%). There were significant associations between boys' versus girls' sports and mechanism of injury within baseball/softball (χ2 = 12.71, p = 0.005); basketball (χ2 = 36.47, p < 0.001); lacrosse (χ2 = 185.15, p < 0.001); and soccer (χ2 = 122.70, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings can help understand the potential impact of interventions aimed at preventing or reducing SRC. Including girls' sports within this study extends research for a largely underrepresented group.

Management of Patellar Tendinopathy.

Patellar tendinopathy is a common pathology typically seen in athletes involved in repetitive explosive jumping and running activities. Also known as jumpers' knee, it is commonly seen in high-level basketball players. Typically, athletes continue to play with symptoms, which can be aggravated and progress to partial patellar tendon tears. When partial patellar tendon tears occur, prolonged recovery and decreased performance is commonly seen. The pathology and treatment can be frustrating for both the athlete and medical provider. Patellar tendinopathy typically does not involve inflammation but rather microinjury to the tendon fibers, which leads to mucoid degeneration, necrosis, and loss of transitional fibrocartilage. When partial tendon tears do occur, the typical location is posteromedially adjacent to the patella. Treatment involves a stepwise approach starting with nonoperative means, including activity modification, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, and physical therapy focused on eccentrics. Extracorporeal shock wave treatments and injections with platelet-rich plasma or bone marrow aspirate concentrate should be considered, with evolving literature to support their use. Ultrasound percutaneous tendon scrapping with a needle supplemented with the aforementioned injections is an emerging treatment option that the authors have found to be helpful, although further studies are required. Surgical intervention is considered after failure of nonoperative treatments, and typically occurs in tears greater than 50% of the tendon thickness and in tendons with increased thickness (>8.8 mm). Open or arthroscopic debridement can be considered, with no studies showing superior outcomes with either technique; however, no high-quality comparison studies exist. The authors prefer an open technique where, much like a bone-patellar tendon-bone harvest, the unhealthy proximal tendon and bone are excised with then closure of the healthy tendon with absorbable sutures. Suture anchor repair may also be used when necessary. In a recent systematic review, surgical management of patellar tendinopathy has been shown to result in improved patient-reported outcomes with return to sport at high levels.1 Treatment for the difficult and sometimes frustrating pathology of patellar tendinopathy continues to evolve, with biologic and less-invasive ultrasound-based treatments showing promise, and surgical intervention providing reliable outcomes.

Establishing Phase Definitions for Jump and Drop Landings and an Exploratory Assessment of Performance-Related Metrics to Monitor During Testing.

ABSTRACT: Harry, JR, Simms, A, and Hite, M. Establishing phase definitions for jump and drop landings and an exploratory assessment of performance-related metrics to monitor during testing. J Strength Cond Res 38(2): e62-e71, 2024-Landing is a common task performed in research, physical training, and competitive sporting scenarios. However, few have attempted to explore landing mechanics beyond its hypothesized link to injury potential, which ignores the key performance qualities that contribute to performance, or how quickly a landing can be completed. This is because a lack of (a) established landing phases from which important performance and injury risk metrics can be extracted and (b) metrics known to have a correlation with performance. As such, this article had 2 purposes. The first purpose was to use force platform data to identify easily extractable and understandable landing phases that contain metrics linked to both task performance and overuse injury potential. The second purpose was to explore performance-related metrics to monitor during testing. Both purposes were pursued using force platform data for the landing portion of 270 jump-landing trials performed by a sample of 14 NCAA Division 1 men's basketball players (1.98 ± 0.07 m; 94.73 ± 8.01 kg). The proposed phases can separate both jump-landing and drop-landing tasks into loading, attenuation, and control phases that consider the way vertical ground reaction force (GRF) is purposefully manipulated by the athlete, which current phase definitions fail to consider. For the second purpose, Pearson's correlation coefficients, the corresponding statistical probabilities ( α = 0.05), and a standardized strength interpretation scale for correlation coefficients (0 < trivial ≤ 0.1 < small ≤ 0.3 < moderate ≤ 0.5 < large ≤ 0.7 < very large) were used for both the group average (i.e., all individual averages pooled together) and individual data (i.e., each individual's trials pooled together). Results revealed that landing time, attenuation phase time, average vertical GRF during landing, average vertical GRF during the attenuation phase, average vertical GRF during the control phase, vertical GRF attenuation rate, and the amortization GRF (i.e., GRF at zero velocity) significantly correlated with landing performance, defined as the ratio of landing height and landing time ( R ≥ ± 0.58; p < 0.05), such that favorable changes in those metrics were associated with better performance. This work provides practitioners with 2 abilities. First, practitioners currently assess jump capacity using jump-landing tests (e.g., countermovement jump) with an analysis strategy that makes use of landing data. Second, this work provides preliminary data to guide others when initially exploring landing test results before identifying metrics chosen for their own analysis.

Comfort and wearability properties of custom-made and boil-and-bite mouthguards among basketball players: A randomized parallel arm clinical trial.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Thermoplastic mouthguards have been a reliable means of protection against impacts and shocks for a century. Although orofacial injuries are prevalent among basketball players, many athletes still avoid using mouthguards due to concerns regarding impaired breathing, speech interference, and nausea. This study aims to compare basketball players' subjective assessments of two different thicknesses of custom-made mouthguards (MGs) with boil-and-bite MGs (B&B MG). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 60 systematically healthy male professional basketball players, without active orthodontic treatment, were enrolled and randomly assigned to three groups: Group 1 (received B&B MGs; n = 20), Group 2 (received custom-made MGs with a 3 mm thickness [ethyl vinyl asetat]; n = 20), and Group 3 (received custom-made MGs with a 5 mm thickness; n = 20). To evaluate MG comfort and usability, 12 key factors, including comfort, fit, stability, tiredness, thirsting, oral dryness, nausea, speaking, breathing, drinking, ease of wear and removal, and inclination to chew, were assessed. The athletes were made to rate these factors using a 10 cm-long Visual Analog Scale, measured at three-time intervals, and the values for both inter-group and intra-group were compared. RESULTS: Data from 48 basketball players were retrieved, and data analysis revealed that B&B MGs had the least favorable parameter values. Among the B&B MG group, stability was reported to be poorer during the initial measurement (p < .05). In the second measurement, B&B MGs showed significantly lower values for comfort, stability, tiredness, speaking, and inclination to chew (p < .05). During the third measurement, the B&B MG group exhibited significantly reduced values for comfort, breathing, drinking, and speaking (p < .05). In contrast, no statistically significant difference was observed between 3 and 5 mm thickness MGs in these measurements. CONCLUSIONS: Custom-made MGs with different thicknesses consistently outperformed B&B MGs in all measurements, indicating the potential to tailor MG thickness based on sport, age, professional level of athlete, and presence of other protective equipment. While custom-made mouthguards are considered the gold standard, dentists who provide B&B MGs can lead to cost savings while maintaining protection and encouraging athletes to use higher-quality custom-made mouthguards.

Mechanisms of dental injuries in basketball, United States, 2003-2022.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Oral injuries such as oral soft tissue lacerations and contusions can occur in basketball by mechanisms such as running into other players or falling. Given a high enough impact force, dental injuries such as tooth fractures and avulsions can occur. Previous research has studied the different types of oral injuries as well as the mechanisms that cause them. Yet, the mechanisms resulting in dental injuries have remained unexplored. The aims of this study were to investigate the distribution of different oral injuries within each injury mechanism and evaluate which mechanisms were most likely to lead to a dental injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). Subjects who experienced oral injuries from basketball between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2022 were included in this study. The independent variable was the injury mechanism. The dependent variable was the dental injury outcome (yes/no). Multivariate logistic regression was used to measure the association between the injury mechanism and the dental injury outcome. A p < .05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: This study included 4419 subjects who experienced oral injuries (national estimate, 138,980). Approximately 14.7% of oral injuries were dental injuries. Subjects experiencing collisions with objects such as walls or the basketball hoop (odds ratio (OR), 4.39; p < .001), falls (OR, 3.35; p < .001), or contact with the basketball (OR, 1.77; p = .006) had significantly higher odds of sustaining a dental injury relative to those experiencing contact with another player. CONCLUSIONS: Basketball players experiencing contact to the mouth have high odds of sustaining a dental injury. An understanding of injury mechanisms is important for medical teams to manage these injuries and for coaches to educate athletes on safe and proper playing styles. Furthermore, healthcare providers and basketball staff should encourage athletes to wear mouthguards to reduce the risk of traumatic dental injuries.

Oro-dental trauma burden and mouthguard usage among contact sports players: A call for sports dentistry initiatives in Sri Lanka.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Contact sports-related oro-dental trauma contributes to a significant proportion of sports injuries among school children. Oro-dental trauma imposes a detrimental impact on the oral health-related quality of life. However, the burden of oro-dental trauma among contact sports players and their practices of mouthguards remains a research gap in Sri Lanka. The current study bridges that while providing evidence for contextual changes such as initiating sports dentistry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted among 1340 adolescent contact sports players in Colombo district, Sri Lanka; 63.1% males and 36.9% females (age 13-18), who were enrolled in football, rugby, hockey, boxing, basketball, and martial arts in the school setting. A checklist was administered to obtain demographic information, sports practices, and the use of mouthguards. An oral examination was conducted for those who experienced oro-dental trauma during the last 12 months. RESULTS: Self-reported oro-dental trauma pooled prevalence of the contact sports players was 35.9% (95% CI = 33.3-38.5), with males' preponderance. Dental trauma was present in 23.8% (n = 319), while 15.8% were uncomplicated and 8% were complicated. Soft tissue injuries were present in 12.1% (n = 162). Oro dental trauma (ODT) was highly prevalent among boxing, rugby, and hockey players. Only 20.8% (n = 279) of players used mouthguards. However, 91.0% (n = 254) of them were using ready-made mouthguards. Mouthguard use and the type of mouthguard showed statistically significant associations across the type of oro-dental trauma among contact sports players. CONCLUSIONS: Contact sports-related oro-dental trauma prevalence is as high as 35.9% among Colombo district school children in Sri Lanka. However, their level of mouthguard usage is shallow at 20.8%. Further research is necessary to investigate the reasons behind this, and national guidelines should be developed to prevent and manage sports-related accidental injuries.

CNN sensor based motion capture system application in basketball training and injury prevention.

Basketball is a high-intensity sport, and sports injuries often occur. Therefore, how to monitor the sports status of basketball players in real time, discover and prevent the occurrence of sports injuries in time, has become an urgent problem for athletes and coaches. In this paper, a motion capture system based on CNN sensor is proposed. Through the application of sensor, real-time monitoring of athletes' motion state, the system can collect athletes' movement track, speed, acceleration, stride frequency, heart rate, energy consumption and other parameters in real time. By analyzing the movement data, it can timely warn and deal with the occurrence of sports injuries. In this paper, convolutional neural network (CNN) is used to process and analyze motion data, so that the motion capture system has higher precision and accuracy. Through the training and optimization of CNN, the system can identify and analyze motion data more accurately, and improve the performance and effect of the motion capture system. The motion capture system based on CNN sensor can realize real-time monitoring and prevention of sports injuries for basketball players, provide more comprehensive, scientific and real-time sports data for athletes and coaches, help them better conduct training and adjust tactics, and improve the competitive level and safety of basketball games.

The incidence rate of ACL injuries and ankle sprains in basketball players: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the incidence rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and ankle sprains according to player sex, playing level, and exposure setting (training vs. games) in basketball players. METHODS: PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect were searched. Only studies reporting the number of ACL injuries and/or ankle sprains alongside the number of athlete-exposures (training sessions and/or games) in basketball players were included. RESULTS: Thirty studies (17 reporting ACL injuries and 16 reporting ankle sprains) were included in the meta-analysis. Higher (p < 0.05) ACL injury incidence rates per 1000 athlete-exposures were recorded in females (female: 0.20 95% confidence intervals [0.16-0.25]; male: 0.07 [0.05-0.08]; female-to-male ratio: 3.33 [3.10-3.57]), in players competing at higher playing levels (amateur: 0.06 [0.04-0.09]; intermediate: 0.16 [0.13-0.20]; elite: 0.25 [0.14-0.64]), and in games (games: female, 0.27 [0.21-0.32]; male, 0.06 [0.03-0.08]; training: female, 0.03 [0.02-0.05]; male: 0.01 [0.00-0.02]; game-to-training ratio: 7.90 [4.88-12.91]). Higher (p < 0.05) ankle sprain incidence rates per 1000 athlete-exposures were observed in males (female: 0.82 [0.61-1.03]; male: 0.90 [0.61-1.19]; female-to-male ratio: 0.91 [0.83-0.99]), in players competing at higher playing levels (amateur: 0.54 [0.51-0.57]; intermediate: 1.12 [1.00-1.24]; elite: 1.87 [1.29-2.46]), and in games (games: 2.51 [1.85-3.16]; training: 0.80 [0.52-0.80]; game-to-training ratio: 2.77 [2.35-3.26]). CONCLUSION: According to player sex, ACL injury incidence rate is higher in females, while ankle sprain incidence rate is greater in males. ACL injury and ankle sprain incidence rates are greater in players competing at higher playing levels and during games compared to training.

Facial Injuries in the National Basketball Association.

BACKGROUND: Sport injuries can negatively impact physical and psychological aspects of athletes. There is a gap in the literature regarding facial trauma present in basketball. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify and describe facial trauma present in the National Basketball Association (NBA). STUDY DESIGN, SETTING, SAMPLE: This is a retrospective cohort study in which the sample (n = 206) consists of players that missed games due to facial injuries in the NBA, the data were collected from a public access online resource. INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: The predictor variables were player position (center, point guard, shooting guard, small forward, and power forward), team conference (Eastern/Western), and if played games occurred in playoff season. MAIN OUTCOME VARIABLES: The primary outcome variable was the injury location (upper, middle, and lower facial third), and the secondary outcome was type of injury (soft tissue/bone fracture). COVARIATES: Player's age, height, weight, and body mass index were collected. ANALYSES: χ2 and logistic regression were calculated to determine associations between predictor and outcome variables. Logistic regression was used to determine if variables were predictive for injury. Odds ratio was also computed for significant results. P value less than .05 (95% confidence interval) was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 206 players missed games due to facial injuries, and a total of 212 injuries were quantified. The mean age of the injured players was 27.24 ± 4.06 years, mean height (centimeters) was 201 ± 59.31 cm, mean weight (kilograms) was 99.48 ± 12.41 kg, and body mass index was 24.52 ± 1.75 kg/m2. Of the 212 injuries, none of them occurred in the upper facial third, 158 (75%) were in the middle third, and 54 (25%) were in the lower third; 151 of them were fractures (61%) and 61 were soft tissue injuries (29%). Most injuries were concentrated in centers (23%) and power forwards (23%). The most common fracture occurred in the nasal bones (39.2%), and most soft tissue injuries occurred in the eye globes (25%). Almost all injuries occurred during regular season games (97%), and the Eastern conference was slightly predominant (52%). CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Significant facial trauma in the NBA has risen in recent years. The player's position, height, and weight were the primary factors associated with facial trauma in the NBA.

Biomechanics and situational patterns associated with anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

OBJECTIVES: Perform a comprehensive video analysis of all anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in National Basketball Association (NBA) athletes from 2006 to 2022 to determine the associated biomechanics, injury mechanism and game situation. METHODS: NBA players diagnosed with an ACL tear from 2006 to 2022 were identified and videos of each injury evaluated by two reviewers. Visual evaluation included assessment of joint kinematics at three time points: initial contact of the injured leg with the ground (IC), 33 milliseconds later (IC+33) and 66 milliseconds later (IC+66). Game situation was assessed qualitatively. RESULTS: Videos of 38 out of 47 (80.9%) ACL tears were obtained. 9 injuries were non-contact, while 29 involved indirect contact. Between IC and IC+33, average knee valgus increased from 5.1° to 12.0° and knee flexion increased from 12.6° to 32.6°. At all time points, the majority of injuries involved trunk tilt and rotation towards the injured leg, hip abduction and neutral foot rotation. The most common game situations for injury included the first step when attacking the basket following picking up the ball (n=13), landing following contact in the air (n=11) and jump stop (n=5). CONCLUSION: Three major mechanisms predominate ACL tears in NBA players: the first step following picking up the ball when attacking, landing and jump stops. None of the injuries reviewed demonstrated direct contact to the knee, emphasising the importance of body kinematics in this injury pattern. The increase in knee valgus and knee flexion between IC and IC+33 should be noted as a possible precipitant to injury.

Editorial Commentary: Early Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Decreases the Risk of Developing Irreparable Meniscus Tears in Female Athletes.

There has been a substantial increase in the participation of women in sports since the passage of Title IX in 1972. With increased participation has come a rise in athletic injuries, including anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. Numerous factors (modifiable and nonmodifiable) contribute to the 2 to 8 times increased risk of ACL tears in female compared with male athletes. The sports with the greatest risk of ACL injury include cutting sports such as soccer (1.1% per season), basketball (0.9% per season), volleyball, and lacrosse. In addition, female patients have a 33.7% greater risk of a subsequent contralateral ACL tear. Approximately 70% of ACL tears are the result of noncontact injuries. Numerous factors contribute to the increased risk of ACL tears in female athletes, including nonmodifiable (hormonal fluctuations, sex differences in knee geometry) and modifiable risk factors (neuromuscular control). Injury-prevention programs focus on modifiable risk factors and have been shown to be incredibly effective, decreasing the risk of ACL tears up to 50%. ACL tears commonly are associated with meniscus tears, including medial meniscus ramp and lateral posterior root lesions; therefore, thorough assessment is critical to identify this pathology. Early ACL reconstruction (i.e., <12 months following injury) increases the likelihood of being able to repair meniscus tears. Given the much greater risk of ACL tears and lower rate of return to sport in female athletes, this group warrants special attention to identify and treat these injuries earlier and subsequently improve overall outcomes.

Characteristics of Sports-Related Injuries Presenting to a Pediatric Emergency Department.

OBJECTIVE: Pediatric injuries associated with participation in sports are common. Understanding the epidemiology and trends of sports-related injuries is an important component of injury prevention efforts and is the objective of this study. METHODS: A retrospective review of sports injuries presenting during the course of 1 year (2019) to the emergency department (ED) of Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children, a large academic children's hospital, was performed. Inclusion criteria focused on patients 18 years old and younger whose ED visit resulted from active participation in a sport. Cases were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes. Demographic data were collected and included sex, age, race, injury specifics (sport, location, type, and mechanism). Descriptive statistics were performed and categorical variables were analyzed using the χ2 test. RESULTS: A total of 1333 injuries seen by the ED during 2019 were sports injuries. Most commonly, these injuries were associated with football (43%), basketball (36%), soccer (11%), or baseball (8%). Considering sports-related injuries, 428 (32%) patients were 12 years and younger and 905 (68%) were 12 years old and older. The median age was 13 years (interquartile range 4 years). Other demographic findings included male sex 1143/1333 (86%) and Black race 835/1333 (63%). School was the most common location for sports injuries (28%). When comparing injuries by age groups (younger than 12 vs 12 and older), football and baseball injuries were more common in those younger than 12 years (53% vs 38%, z = 5.2, P < 0.00001; and 14.0% vs. 5.6%, z = 4.9, P < 0.00001, respectively), whereas basketball and soccer injuries were more common in those 12 years and older (43% vs 22%, z = 7.4, P < 0.00001; and 11.4% vs 9.3%, z = 5.9, P < 0.00001, respectively). When comparing injuries by sex, football and baseball injuries were more common in males (49% vs 6%, z = 11.1, P < 0.00001; and 9.4% vs. 2.1%, z = 3.3, P < 0.00001, respectively), whereas basketball and soccer injuries were more common in females (59% vs 32%, z = 7.2, P < 0.00001; and 27% vs 8%, z = 7.8, P < 0.00001, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Sports injuries that are commonly encountered in the ED differ in age and sex. Basketball and soccer injuries were more likely to be encountered in older females, whereas baseball and football injuries were more likely seen in younger males. This may reflect efforts that have been previously focused on the sports considered to be higher risk, especially for concussive injuries. This information can help guide future preventive efforts provided by primary physicians, schools, and coaches.

The Epidemiology of Pediatric Basketball Injuries Presenting to US Emergency Departments: 2011-2020.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to describe the national epidemiology of basketball-related injuries in children and adolescents presenting to US emergency departments (EDs) from 2011 to 2020 and to quantify the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database was queried for cases of injury in persons aged 0 to 19 years related to product code 1205 (basketball and related equipment) presenting from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2020. National injury estimates were calculated using National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-recommended weights and strata. The US Census data were used to determine the incidence of injury by age group and by sex. To quantify the effect of COVID-19, an interrupted time series analysis was performed using March 1, 2020 as the interrupting time point. The pre-COVID-19 trend was used to estimate the difference in injuries attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: From 2011 to 2020, an estimated 3,210,953 (95% confidence interval = 2,655,812-3,788,094) visits were made to US EDs for basketball-related injuries in those aged younger than 20 years, corresponding to a mean annual incidence of 391 injuries per 100,000 population. The mean age of injury was 14.4 years (95% confidence interval = 14.3-14.5). Boys were more often injured than girls (76% vs 24% of all injuries, respectively). The foot was the most injured body part, accounting for 24% of injuries. Strains or sprains were the most common injury type (38% of injuries). During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 155,638 fewer injuries than were expected based on pre-COVID-19 trends. During COVID-19, there were no significant differences in the proportions of injury types, body parts involved, sex, or age. CONCLUSIONS: Basketball remains a frequent cause of injury, especially in adolescents. The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly reduced the frequency of basketball-related injuries, but did not affect the type and body location of injuries presenting to the ED.

Traumatic dental injuries in high school athletes in the United States of America from 2005 to 2020.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Participation in sports activities is a source of dental injury. Despite recommendations for the use of mouthguards, athletes underutilize them. The aim of this study was to provide estimates of dental injuries, the mechanism of injuries and the utilization of mouthguards in high school sports. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a secondary analysis of an existing dataset of a convenience sample of the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study. Data of athletic exposures, dental injuries, mouthguard usage, and mechanism of injury from the 2005/2006 to the 2019/2020 academic years were analyzed. RESULTS: During the study period, there were 459 dental injuries in 49,987,927 athletic exposures resulting in a dental injury rate of 0.9 per 100,000 athletic exposures (AE). Slightly more than half of the traumatic dental injuries were sustained during competition (n = 256; 55.8%) and the rest (n = 200; 43.6%) were sustained during practice. The rate of dental injury in competition was 3.6 times higher than the rate in practice (RR: 3.6, 95% CI: 3.0-4.4). Dental injuries comprised 0.4% of the total 108,574 injuries sustained by athletes. Among girls' sports, field hockey had the highest rate (3.5 per 100,000 AE) and among boys' sports, basketball (2.4 per 100,000 AE) had the highest rate of dental injury. The most common mechanism of injury was contact with another player (276; 60.4%) followed by contact with apparatus (146; 31.9%). In the majority of dental injuries (308; 75.1%), the athlete was not wearing a mouthguard when the dental injury was sustained. CONCLUSIONS: Dental injuries were a small proportion of all injuries sustained by high school athletes. The majority of dental injuries were sustained when the athlete was not wearing a mouthguard.

Quantitative text analysis of the mechanisms of tooth injury: Analysis of accidents in five sports that occurred in 15 years under school control.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Dental trauma may occur in school settings and it can impact patients' quality of life. Analysis of the occurrences of dental trauma is essential in identifying preventive methods. There are numerous reports of such accidents but most are quantitative analyses with limited data. The aim of this study was to extract information on the mechanisms of injuries that leads to prevention by performing a qualitative analysis of the occurrence of dental trauma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: After screening 7684 cases of dental injuries that occured in schools and were reported to the Japan Sports Council between 2005 and 2020, 533 detailed descriptions of injuries that occurred during sports were included. Quantitative text analysis was performed on the target data by performing statistical analysis, extracting frequently used words, and creating a co-occurrence network. Injury mechanisms were evaluated based on appearance of words. RESULTS: Dental injuries occurred frequently in five sports included in the survey. They were in order of decreasing frequency: baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, and rugby. Males were injured more often in all sports other than volleyball. The number of accidents increased in all sports among high school students. The frequent word list and co-occurrence network were different for each sport. This allowed typical accident occurrence mechanisms to be extracted for these five sports. CONCLUSIONS: Typical accident occurrence mechanisms were extracted from quantitative text analysis targeting free texts on the occurrence of accidents for five sports. Quantitative text analysis is useful for the evaluation of accident cases, which may aid in accident prevention.

Head injuries caused by contact with teeth during sports and exercise activities in Japanese schools during the period 2012-2018.

BACKGROUND/AIM: During sports activities, teeth-related contact can cause injury to both ally and opponent players, which can lead to potential infections and aesthetic problems. However, the extent of such injuries remains unclear. This study aimed to clarify the frequency and situation of head injuries caused by teeth (HICBT) occurring under the supervision of schools in Japan. MATERIAL AND METHODS: HICBT records were extracted from the Japan Sport Council data on head injuries occurring reported during the 7-year period from 2012 to 2018 under the supervision of schools in Japan. RESULTS: Of the total 463,527 head injury cases during the study period, 4495 cases (approximately 1%) were HICBT. Of the HICBT cases, 3650 (81.20%) were related to sports and athletic activity. Such injuries were reported to occur most often during basketball with a rate of 57.07% and 50.43%; soccer/futsal was the next most common sport with a rate of 13.38% and 24.01% in junior high school and high school students. Tag games were responsible for a similar number of HICBT cases at 22.73% and 39.03% in kindergartens and elementary school students. CONCLUSIONS: A total of 4495 cases of HICBT were identified, accounting for about 1% of all head injuries under the supervision of schools in Japan during the study period. This result reminds us that our teeth could be the weapon against the players during sports events. HICBTs occurring during basketball and soccer/futsal, in which mouthguards are not mandatory, were conspicuous among junior and senior high school students. Active use of mouthguards in various sports will protect players as well as their teammates and opponents. Sports dentists should encourage the revision of rules, such as mandating the use of mouthguards, in popular sports with a high incidence of HICBT, such as basketball and soccer/futsal.

The use of mouthguards and related factors among basketball players in Indonesia.

BACKGROUND: Basketball is a sport with a higher injury rate. Regardless, few basketball players use mouthguards, which predisposes them to injuries. The use of mouthguards (UoM) could be related to several factors. This study aims to identify factors associated with UoM and to construct a model from the factors among basketball players in Indonesia. METHODS: Through convenience sampling, a total of 286 among basketball players in Indonesia was included in this cross-sectional study. These participants filled out online a modified questionnaires regarding demographic and several factors related to UoM. The data was analyzed using chi-square test, independent-sample t-test, binary logistic regression, and structural equation modeling (SEM). RESULTS: There were 286 players. 127 of them were males and 159 were females. Of them, 86 (30.1%) used mouthguards. Age, duration (in year), and weekly practicing basketball (in hour) were all significantly different between mouthguards users and non-users with (p = 0.005, p = 0.036 and p = 0.035), respectively. The UoM was significantly associated with level of awareness, injury experience, social support, and oral health professional (OHP) support with (p = 0.002, p < 0.001, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001), respectively. This result was also supported by a variety of variables' ORs, which range from 1.28 to 5.97. The coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.27. CONCLUSIONS: The UoM among basketball players in Indonesia was related to several factors, including the level of knowledge, level of awareness, duration of basketball career, injury experiences, social support, and oral health professionals' support which was constructed to propose a model. The model could explain 27% of the relationship between variables and UoM among Indonesian basketball players. This model will be useful for more comprehensive initiatives to promote oral health. It might be applicable for other countries as well as other sports communities / physical activities.

THE INCIDENCE OF SPORTS INJURIES AMONG SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.

It is estimated that approximately one in ten school-aged children experience sports-related injuries annually. These injuries are most common at 12 years of age. Boys are more likely to get injured and more likely to get seriously injured than girls. The probability of injury is greater in contact or high-impact sports, with American soccer accounting for the largest number of injuries, followed by wrestling, basketball, soccer, and baseball. In certain sports, such as horseback riding, women are four times more likely to sustain injuries. The presented literature review details the incidence of various sports-related injuries in adolescents. Sports-related injuries observed in children under the age of 10 are nonspecific and include contusions, mild sprains, and fractures of the extremities, most commonly Salter-Harris fractures (growth plate fractures) or plastic fractures. In young athletes, sports-related injuries of the ligaments or muscles, as well as spinal or head injuries, are rare. This is particularly true during puberty, where growth plate fractures and musculoskeletal injuries occur more frequently.

On-site Ultrasound Screens out Asymptomatic Knee Lesions in Elite Adolescent Male Basketball Players.

Basketball is a popular sport worldwide with a high injury risk. In this study, we conducted survey composed of clinical symptom reporting scale, physical examination and meticulous portable musculoskeletal ultrasound to 19 elite male high school basketball players and 15 regular male high school students. Our study showed the incidence of ultrasonographic findings of any lesion, suprapatellar effusion and proximal patellar tendinopathy is significantly higher in player group, and the incidence of asymptomatic ultrasonographic lesion is also higher in player group. Screening for asymptomatic lesions bares clinical relevance and plays a role in prevention of symptom development. With the concise and easy-to-perform ultrasonography protocol we performed and being interpreted by sports team physician, the protocol can offer precise diagnosis of common injury and screening for asymptomatic lesion potentially progressive.