Head, neck, and spinal injuries in go-karting: An epidemiological analysis

Despite go-karting's increased popularity, participants are susceptible to blunt force trauma, fractures, and acceleration-deceleration injuries. This study evaluated national patterns and temporal trends in go-kart-related head, neck, and spinal injuries presenting to U.S. emergency departments.

The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) was queried for go-kart-related head, neck, and spinal injuries from 2004 through 2023. Case narratives were reviewed for inclusion and classification of diagnoses and injury mechanisms. Survey-weighted analyses accounted for the NEISS complex sampling design.

The final cohort included 1015 sampled cases, corresponding to an estimated 34,561 U.S. emergency department visits (95% CI, 32,564-36,558). The weighted median age was 15 years, 63.1% of injuries occurred among patients aged 0-18 years, and 57.3% occurred among males. Head-involving injuries accounted for 54.0% of the weighted estimate. Closed/nonspecific head injury was the most common diagnostic category (31.8%), followed by neck/back strain or sprain (29.5%) and concussion (16.7%). Collision with another go-kart was the most common overall mechanism (29.6%), and 43.7% of these collisions involved the head (95% CI, 35.7%-51.7%). Among head-involving injuries, rollover or flipping was the most common mechanism (28.7%), followed by stationary-object collision (25.0%) and collision with another go-kart (24.0%). The weighted proportion of head-involving injuries increased by approximately 1.8 percentage points per year (p < .001).

Head-involving injuries accounted for more than half of the weighted burden of go-kart-related head, neck, and spinal injuries, with children and adolescents accounting for nearly two-thirds of injuries. Head injuries occurred across multiple crash mechanisms, supporting further investigation of age-specific and mechanism-specific prevention strategies.