Epidemiology of Boys' Club Lacrosse Injuries During the 2018 Summer Lacrosse Season

In the past 10 years, participation in boys' youth and high school lacrosse has increased by 33%. Among many club teams and tournaments, athletes may not have access to medical coverage. Additionally, these athletes face a higher volume of play than in traditional scholastic sport settings.

To describe the injury characteristics of boys' nonscholastic youth and high school club lacrosse athletes over the course of a summer season.

Descriptive epidemiology study.

Boys' nonscholastic youth and high school lacrosse athletes, aged 8 to 18 years, who competed in tournaments.

Athletic trainers at tournaments were given standardized injury report forms to document patient encounters. These reports were then entered into the Datalys Injury Surveillance Tool.

Over the summer tournament season, 233 injuries were reported in 109 342 athlete-exposures (AEs) for an injury rate of 2.13 per 1000 AEs (95% confidence interval = 1.87, 2.42). The most frequently injured body parts were the head and/or face (n = 51, 22%), arm and/or elbow (n = 34, 15%), and hand and/or wrist (n = 29, 12%). The most common diagnoses were contusions (n = 63, 27%), concussions (n = 44, 19%), fractures (n = 39, 17%), and sprains (n = 35, 15%). The most often injured position was midfielder (n = 65, 41%), followed by defense (n = 48, 30%), attack (n = 36, 23%), and goalkeeper (n = 9, 6%). The concussion rate was 0.4 per 1000 AEs (95% confidence interval = 0.28, 0.52).

The injury rate experienced by boys' nonscholastic club lacrosse athletes was similar to the rates of their high school counterparts as well as school-sponsored football and wrestling athletes. Because of the risk of injury, athletic training services should be available for youth and high school club lacrosse tournaments.