Abstract
BACKGROUND: Lacrosse is a team-based recreational sport that has experienced a marked increase in popularity over the past 2null decades. Despite this growth, limited epidemiologic data currently exist regarding upper extremity (UE) injuries in this athletic population. The current study characterizes national U.S. trends and diagnoses of orthopedic-related UE injuries that presented to the emergency department from 2014 to 2023. METHODS: Data were collected from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System using specific inclusion criteria to identify lacrosse-related UE injuries. Collected data were categorized by anatomical location and diagnosis, and national estimates were calculated by applying statistical weights assigned by National Electronic Injury Surveillance System coders at participating emergency departments. RESULTS: An estimated 38,731 lacrosse-related UE injuries occurred nationally during the study period. Of the 1,415 individual analyzed cases, the most commonly injured sites were the shoulder (n = 363, 25.6%), fingers (n = 289, 20.4%), lower arm (n = 263, 18.6%), wrist (n = 241, 17%), hand (n = 133, 9.4%), elbow (n = 90, 6.4%), and upper arm (n = 36, 2.5%). Fractures accounted for the majority of diagnoses (n = 621, 43.9%), with the lower arm (eg, forearm) being the most frequent fracture location. CONCLUSION: The overall incidence of injuries remained stable across this 10-year period, with a statistically significant decrease in 2020 (P < .05), likely due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and imposed contact restrictions. Mechanistically, the high frequency of lower arm injuries is presumed to be secondary to direct trauma from "body checks" and/or "stick checks" as the lower arm is often unprotected, rendering it more susceptible to injury.