Basketball-related brain injuries on the rise among children: study

Although the total number of adolescent injuries from basketball decreased from 1997 to 2007, the number of traumatic brain injuries related to the sport increased by 70 percent, according to a study from the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH.

More than 4 million pediatric basketball-related injuries were reported, but the annual rate dropped 22 percent over the course of the study. Children 5-10 years old were more likely to be diagnosed with a TBI than older players.

Using National Electronic Injury Surveillance System data from 1997 to 2007, researchers examined basketball-related injuries among children 5-19 years old that resulted in emergency room treatment.

Overall, the most common basketball injuries were sprains and strains to the lower extremities (30 percent) and fractures or dislocations in the upper extremities (15 percent).

The study was published in the Sept. 13 issue of Pediatrics.