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

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 (< 18 years) and adults (>= 18 years). 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.