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- Title
Epidemiology of Achilles tendon injuries in collegiate level athletes in the United States.
- Authors
Chan, Jimmy J.; Chen, Kevin K.; Sarker, Salman; Hasija, Rohit; Huang, Hsin-Hui; Guzman, Javier Z.; Vulcano, Ettore
- Abstract
<bold>Background: </bold>Achilles injuries are devastating injuries, especially for competitive athletes. No studies have examined the outcomes of Achilles injuries in NCAA athletes. Therefore, a better characterization and understanding of the epidemiology is crucial.<bold>Methods: </bold>Achilles injuries across 16 sports among NCAA men and women during the 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years were analyzed using the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (NCAA-ISP). Achilles tendon injury rate (IR) per 100,000 athlete-exposures (AEs), operative rate, annual injury rate trends, reinjury rates, mechanism of injury, in-season status (pre/regular/post season), and time loss distributions were compiled and calculated. A sub-analysis of comparing gender and injury mechanism was also performed for both all injuries and severe injuries.<bold>Results: </bold>Overall, N = 255 Achilles injuries were identified with an injury rate (IR) of 2.17 (per 100,000 AEs). These injuries occurred most often in women's gymnastics (IR = 16.73), men's basketball (IR = 4.26), and women's basketball (IR = 3.32), respectively. N = 52 injuries were classified as severe injuries which have higher median time loss (48 days) and higher operative rate (65.4%). For severe Achilles injuries, female athletes had higher operative (77.8% vs. 58.8%) and higher time loss compared to male athletes (96 days vs. 48 days). Contact mechanisms were associated with a higher season-ending injury rate.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>Overall, 20.4% of Achilles injuries were considered severe with 65.6% operative rate. About 73.1% were season-ending injuries, and the remaining athletes have a median time loss of 48 days. Severe Achilles injuries create significant impact on playing time and career for NCAA athletes.
- Subjects
UNITED States; NATIONAL Collegiate Athletic Association; ACHILLES tendon; TENDON injuries; COLLEGE athletes; ATHLETES; COLLEGE students; WOMEN'S basketball; EPIDEMIOLOGY; ACHILLES tendon injuries; HIGHER education statistics; RESEARCH; RESEARCH methodology; SPORTS injuries; DISEASE incidence; SPORTS; EVALUATION research; MEDICAL cooperation; ANKLE injuries; SEX distribution; COMPARATIVE studies; STUDENTS
- Publication
International Orthopaedics, 2020, Vol 44, Issue 3, p585
- ISSN
0341-2695
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1007/s00264-019-04471-2