Lacrosse-related injuries in boys and girls treated in U.S. emergency departments, 2000–2016

BACKGROUND: Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States. Its rules regarding permitted contact differ by sex and age. There are no known studies using a nationally representative data set to analyze lacrosse injury patterns over several years by sex and age in the youth population. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System for youth aged 11–18 years who were treated for lacrosse-related injuries in U.S. emergency departments from 2000 to 2016. Based on our review of the case narratives, we created and coded a new injury-mechanism variable. We generated national estimates from 6406 cases. RESULTS: An estimated 206,274 lacrosse-related injuries to youths aged 11–18 years were treated in U.S. emergency departments from 2000 to 2016. The rate of injuries per 10,000 significantly increased from 1.9 in 2000 to a peak of 5.3 in 2012 (p < 0.0001), followed by a significant decrease to 3.4 in 2016 (p = 0.020). Injury mechanism, body part injured, and diagnosis differed by sex. Boys were 1.62 times (95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.25–2.09) more likely than girls to be injured by player-to-player contact. Girls were 2.21 times (95%CI: 1.96–2.49) more likely than boys to have non-contact injuries. Overall, as age increased, the percentage of injuries from lacrosse sticks decreased and player-to-player contact increased. CONCLUSION: Despite additional protective regulations in the sport, lacrosse is an important source of injury where we continue to see differences by sex and age. This study supports the continuation, modification, and addition of rules aimed at reducing lacrosse injury risk.