Shoulder, upper arm and elbow injuries in high school men's American football

Authors

Puneet Gupta, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, D.C, USA.
George M. Thomas, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, D.C, USA.
Prudvi R. Arabandi, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, D.C, USA.
Magid G. Abdo, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, D.C, USA.
Karthik N. Dhanireddy, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, D.C, USA.
Richard Amdur, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, D.C, USA.
Teresa Doerre, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, D.C, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

9-16-2022

Journal

Research in sports medicine (Print)

DOI

10.1080/15438627.2022.2125318

Keywords

Shoulder and elbow; epidemiology; high school sports; men’s football

Abstract

In order to reduce shoulder, upper arm and elbow injury rates in American football, identifying injury risk factors and any underlying associations is needed. No prior study has done such characterization at the high school level. A descriptive epidemiology study was performed using data from the National Athletic Treatment, Injury, and Outcomes Network Surveillance Program (NATION-SP) from the years 2011/12 to 2013/14 on high school football athletes. Four hundred and sixty total injuries were found in the dataset. Acromioclavicular (AC) sprains had the highest incidence of all injuries (0.060 injuries per 1000 exposures). Fractures lead to the greatest time lost (42.24 days). Most injuries occurred in older athletes (juniors and seniors, 30% and 32%, respectively), were related to tackling (31%), and in running back and linebacker positions (15% each). Orthopaedic surgeons and other sports medicine specialists can use these findings to educate players, coaches and families about injury risks and for improving injury prevention guidelines.

APA Citation

Gupta, Puneet; Thomas, George M.; Arabandi, Prudvi R.; Abdo, Magid G.; Dhanireddy, Karthik N.; Amdur, Richard; and Doerre, Teresa, "Shoulder, upper arm and elbow injuries in high school men's American football" (2022). GW Authored Works. Paper 1618.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/1618

Department

Surgery