[Epidemiologic study of sports injuries in children]

From 1981 to 1982, within a one year period, all medically treated childrens' accidents were recorded in the public and private medical facilities of a French health care district near Paris. Sports injuries represented 11% of all injuries, and in children aged 12 years and over, sports areas were the leading site of accidents (24%). Seven hundred thirty-eight sports injuries to children aged 6 years and over were analysed and compared to other types of accidental injuries (home, school and traffic accidents). The overall incidence of sports injuries was estimated to be 1.1% in children aged 6 to 14 years. Out-of-school sports accidents were more frequent among boys, but boys and girls had similar injury rates in school physical education. Most lesions were benign but the fracture rate was 22%. A majority of lesions were located on the upper limb. Most commonly, the mechanism of accident was a forward fall and children were injured without any participation of sports equipment. The hospitalization rate was 11%. Repeated hospital admissions and a long time elapsing between the accident and full recovery were significantly more often observed than in other types of accidents. This might be explained by a higher rate of epiphyseal fractures and internal fixations. Eighteen months after the accident, musculo-skeletal sequelae were observed in 12% of the inpatient children.