Burden and case mix of adolescent finger fractures and dislocations from selected ball and stick sports in US emergency departments
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Finger fractures and dislocations are common acute hand injuries in youth ball and stick sports, but updated national emergency department (ED) estimates by sport are limited. We analyzed public CPSC NEISS annual archived data for 2015–2025. The main cohort included adolescents aged 10–18 years with primary finger injuries, primary diagnosis of fracture or dislocation, and verified selected ball and stick sport product/activity codes in Product_1 or Product_2. National estimates used NEISS sample weights, with variances estimated by Taylor linearization using NEISS stratum and primary sampling unit variables. Estimates were flagged using CPSC instability criteria. A survey-weighted logistic model estimated the odds that a presenting injury was coded as a dislocation rather than a fracture; this is a conditional case-mix comparison among presenting patients, not an injury-risk estimate. Annual estimates were computed under each year's own sample design and regressed on treatment year, with the covariance between years estimated from hospitals reporting in both years. The cohort included 16,066 unweighted NEISS records, representing an estimated 441,441 ED visits nationally (95% CI 341,825–541,056). The largest weighted sport groups were football (166,972; 95% CI 126,984–206,959; 37.8%), basketball (154,526; 95% CI 119,596–189,455; 35.0%), and baseball/softball (40,297; 95% CI 30,159–50,434; 9.1%). Fractures accounted for 83.2% (95% CI 81.7–84.8) and dislocations for 16.8% (95% CI 15.3–18.4) of weighted visits. Annual weighted estimates were highest in 2015 (52,516; 95% CI 41,665–63,367) and lowest in 2020 (18,071; 95% CI 12,467–23,674) and declined by 2.7% per year across 2015–2025 under the primary specification (95% CI 0.5–4.9; p = 0.018); the increase in 2024 coincided with a redesign of the NEISS hospital sample. In the adjusted model, the odds of dislocation relative to fracture increased with age (16–18 vs 10–12 years: OR 4.86, 95% CI 3.94–5.99; p < 0.001). Selected ball and stick sports accounted for a substantial national ED burden of adolescent finger fractures and dislocations, with sport-specific differences in case mix. Among adolescents presenting with one of these two diagnoses, older age was associated with higher adjusted odds that the injury was a dislocation rather than a fracture, representing a difference in diagnostic case mix rather than a greater frequency or risk of dislocation. These findings support sport-aware prevention, early recognition of potentially unstable finger injuries, and cautious interpretation of small subgroup estimates.
Source: Scientific Reports
Institution: Shenzhen University
Language: English
Subfield: Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,690
OpenAlex ID: W7225575652