Epidemiology of racket and paddle sports-related injuries treated in the United States emergency departments, 2007–2016

OBJECTIVE: Racket and paddle sports are popular worldwide. Although there are several epidemiologic studies on tennis, there are limited epidemiologic studies on injuries in badminton, squash, racquetball, table tennis, pickleball and other racket and paddle sports. We aimed to analyze acute racket and paddle sports injuries that presented to emergency departments. DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiologic study; level of evidence 3. SETTING: United States emergency departments (USEDs). METHODS: Data from National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) were queried to characterize racket and paddle sports-related (RPSR) injuries that presented to USEDs over a 10-year period. RESULTS: From 2007 to 2016, there were 7,723 cases of racket and paddle sports-related (RPSR) injuries that presented to USEDs. This data provides a weighted estimate of 301,038 RPSR injuries in USEDs over the 10-year study period. The majority (60.3) of these injuries were in men. Men had a higher percentage of injuries of most body parts except the lower arm, wrist, and ankle. The mean age at the time of injury was 37 years. The highest percentage of sprains, strains, and lower extremity injuries occurred in athletes between ages 18-40 years. Between sports, table tennis had highest percentage of skin and internal organ injuries while badminton had the highest percentage of sprains, strains, fractures, and dislocations. CONCLUSION: This study is the largest nationally representative study of RPSR injuries to date. RPSR injuries are varied in their presentation based on age, sex, body location, and type of injury. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study determined common RPSR injuries presenting to USEDs, their patterns, and severity over a 10-year period. Researchers and clinicians can begin to use this data for future research studies and may consider this early data in management decisions.