Characteristics and outcomes of severe sports-related injury in children and adults: a nationwide cohort study in Japan

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-022-02144-1.
Purpose: Understanding epidemiological patterns in patients with severe sports-related injuries between children and adults is important for injury prevention. We ought to describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with severe sports-related injuries and compare the characteristics between children and adults. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the Japan Trauma Data Bank (JTDB). We included patients with sports-related injury and an ISS of at least 16, who were admitted between 2004 and 2018. We compared characteristics between children (< 18years) and adults (≥ 18years). We performed a multivariable logistic regression analysis to compare in-hospital mortality. Results: We identified 1369 eligible patients (children, n = 326; adults, n = 1043). The most common season was April–June and July–September in children (28.5% and 27.9%) and January–March in adults (42.1%). Injuries to the head/neck (58.9% vs. 40.8%, p < 0.001) and abdomen (16.0% vs. 8.3%, p < 0.001) were significantly more frequent in children than adults, while injuries to the thorax (8.0% vs. 27.2%, p < 0.001), pelvis/lower extremity (0.6% vs. 6.0%, p < 0.001), and spine (23.9% vs. 35.3%, p < 0.001) were less frequent in children. We did not observe a statistically significant difference in in-hospital mortality between children and adults. Conclusions: We conducted a comprehensive analysis of severe sports-related injuries using a nationwide trauma database and demonstrated different patterns of severe sports-related injuries in children and adults.