Rugby injury in Kingston, Canada: a ten-year study

Rugby is a high-contact sport with an elevated risk for injury. While many studies have examined the epidemiology of rugby injury, there are no surveillance-based injury studies from North America. The objective of this study was to profile the scope and nature of injuries experienced during the sport of rugby. We analyzed emergency department injury surveillance data over a decade (1993-2003) from the Kingston sites of the Canadian Hospital Injury Reporting and Prevention Program. Rugby injuries were examined by mechanism, nature and anatomical site of injury, with stratification according to sex and age. A total of 1,527 injuries was observed (mean of 153 per year). Results show the tackling phase of play accounted for the highest number of injuries (506/1,527; 33.1 percent). The most common natures of injury were sprains and strains (426/1,527; 27.9 percent), while the leading anatomical location of injury was the face (294/1,527; 19.3 percent). Target patterns of injury were identified as priorities for prevention, based on injury frequency and severity.