title: Epidemiology of Elbow Dislocations in High School Athletes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The elbow is the second most commonly dislocated major joint in the general population. Previous studies that focused on emergency department populations indicate that such injuries occur most frequently among adolescent athletes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the epidemiological rates and patterns of sports-related elbow dislocations in high school athletes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive epidemiology study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sports-related injury data for the 2005-2006 through 2013-2014 academic years from a national convenience sample of high schools participating in the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study (High School Reporting Information Online [RIO]) were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Certified athletic trainers participating in High School RIO reported 115 of 1246 (9.2%) elbow injuries as elbow dislocations. A total of 30,415,179 athlete exposures (AEs) were reported during the study period, resulting in a dislocation rate of 0.38 per 100,000 AEs. The majority of the dislocations resulted from boys' wrestling (46.1%) and football (37.4%). Elbow dislocation rates were higher in competition than in practice. Also, 91.3% of dislocations occurred in boys' sports. Among both boys (60.4%) and girls (88.9%), the majority of injuries occurred during varsity sports activities. Contact with another person was the most common injury mechanism (46.9%), followed by contact with the playing surface (46.0%). Dislocations more commonly resulted in removal from play for more than 3 weeks (23.4% vs 6.9%, respectively) or medical disqualification (36.9% vs 7.0%, respectively) compared with other elbow injuries. Dislocations were also more likely to result in surgical treatment than other elbow injuries (13.6% vs 4.7%, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In high school athletes, elbow dislocations result in longer removal from play and are more likely to require surgical treatment than nondislocation-associated elbow injuries. Rates and patterns of elbow dislocations vary by sport. In high-risk sports, focused sport-specific prevention strategies may help to decrease the rates and severity of elbow dislocation injuries.
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Ismar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dizdarevic
authors.affiliation: Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Low
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Colorado at Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Dustin W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Currie
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Colorado at Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: R Dawn
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Comstock
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Sommer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hammoud
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, Delaware, USA Alfred.Atanda@nemours.org.
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Atanda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005538:Football / Q000293:injuries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006173:Gymnastics / Q000293:injuries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D004204:Joint Dislocations / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012916:Soccer / Q000293:injuries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014952:Wrestling / Q000293:injuries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000067009:Youth Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000092464:Elbow Injuries
keywords: elbow dislocation; high school; injury; sports