Pediatric Hurdle Injuries in Track and Field: A Descriptive Epidemiologic Study

BACKGROUND: Track & field has more combined participants compared to any other high school sport in the United States. Hurdling is a track event that is unique due to a combination of running and jumping over an apparatus. As a result, this puts athletes at risk for various musculoskeletal injuries. However, there has been a paucity of studies describing the epidemiology of pediatric hurdle injuries PURPOSE: To examine hurdle-related injury types, body locations, injury mechanisms, and injury settings in children and adolescents. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of data that was extracted from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), which represents emergency room visits. Injury data involving hurdle injuries was searched during a 10-year period (2008-2017) involving patients 18 and under. Injuries were then classified based upon injury type, body locations involved, injury mechanisms, and injury settings. Descriptive statistics were used including mean ± standard deviation and frequency (N) was expressed as percentages (%). RESULTS: A total of 749 hurdle related injuries were found from 333 males (44.5%) and 416 females (55.5%). Their mean ages were 14.0±2.2 years. The top 3 commonly recorded injury types were traumatic fracture (N=218, 29.1%), joint sprain (N=191, 25.5%), and contusion/hematoma/bruise (N=78, 10.4%). The overall top 3 injured body locations were ankle (N=140, 18.7%), knee (N=120, 16.0%), and wrist (N=69, 9.2%). Most injury mechanisms were trips, falls, and landings involving the hurdle (N=594, 79.0%). The rest of the mechanisms included ground involvement only (N=47, 6.3%) and other equipment (N=7, 0.9%). Finally, injury settings consisted of track & field practices (N=469, 62.6%), track & field meets (N=96, 12.8%), and other settings including gym, physical education class, recess, school activities, and camps (N=49, 6.5%). CONCLUSION: In pediatric hurdle athletes, most injuries seen in the emergency room are due to involvement of the hurdle and most occur during track practices. Although most injuries occur in the lower extremity, upper extremity injuries are also common. This information could be helpful in playing a role in targeted event-specific injury prevention initiatives.