Track and field-related lower-extremity musculoskeletal injuries: A retrospective study discussing injury analysis, stressors, and comprehensive management.

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to provide beneficial information, from a clinical perspective, on how healthcare providers and sports educators can navigate treatment and safety for TAF athletes. This was done by identifying trends seen in lower-extremity TAF injuries and providing potential treatments to counter specific injuries, closing gaps in current literature.

Methods: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database was queried during a ten-year time span (2014-2023) to analyze lower-extremity track and field-related musculoskeletal injuries.

Results: There were 128,761 cases reported in the Emergency Department from 2014-2023. Fifty eight percent occurred in females compared to only 42% in males, making females 1.4 times more likely to experience injury. Most injuries took place in 2017. Most cases in adolescents were aged 15 and 14 years old. The 10-19 age group had disproportionately more cases. 1,067 reported cases of strain/sprains were associated with female patients with 733 cases present in males. Strain/sprains ranked the highest, followed by fractures, excluding other/not stated cases. The ankle was the body part with the most cases, followed by injury to the knee.

Conclusions: As a widely popular sport, future studies should look at providing a more comprehensive characterization into how a patient's specific demographics may play into injury detection and prevention.