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Pediatric Otolaryngology

(370) Pediatric Gymnastics Head and Neck Injuries: 2017-2021

Monday, October 2, 2023
2:45 PM – 3:45 PM East Coast USA Time
Has Audio

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Austin Yap

    Student
    Howard University College of Medicine
    Washington, District of Columbia, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Thomas L. Haupt, n/a

    Thomas L. Haupt
    Howard University
    brooklyn, NY, USA

  • NT

    Nitika Tripathi, MD

    Resident Physician
    Medstar Georgetown University
    DC, DC, USA

    • Senior Author(s)

  • EH

    Earl H. Harley, MD

    Professor
    Georgetown University
    Washington, DC, USA

Disclosure(s):
Austin Yap: No relevant relationships to disclose.


Introduction: Gymnastics is known to have one of the youngest ages of sport specialization, with children training at the competitive level as young as four. This young age, coupled with the increasing focus on the difficulty of skills, poses a unique risk for this age group for acute head and neck injuries. To our knowledge, no study has reviewed the association between pediatric head and neck injuries and gymnastics.

Methods: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) was queried for epidemiologic data associated with gymnastics-related head and neck injuries in children up to 18 years old from 2017 to 2021. Chi-squared analysis was performed where applicable for comparative analysis.

Results: The query resulted in 968 cases (National Estimate=23,369), of which 177 cases were excluded that did not relate to organized participation in the sport. In the remaining 791 cases (73.07% female and 26.93% male), the average age was 10.13 years. The most common body parts specific to the head and neck region that were injured were the head (47.66%), neck (28.70%), face (16.31%), and mouth (5.82%). The most common types of injuries were internal/head injury (23.26%), strain/sprain (18.17%), concussion (18.08%), and laceration (16.81%). Patients presented significantly (p < 0.05) more during the winter months (Dec-Feb, 214/791) compared to the summer months(June-Aug, 184/791), corresponding with the competition season. Female patients were significantly older than male patients (mean 10.5 yo SD 3.85 vs. 9.07 yo SD 4.37, p< 0.05, respectively). Male patients presented more with lacerations (64/213), while female patients were more likely to present with strains/sprains (129/ 578).

Conclusions: Between 2017 and 2021, most pediatric gymnastics-related head and neck injuries were athletes between 6 and 14. This specific age group represents a unique period in a gymnast’s training associated with a steady increase toward the elite level (achieved around age 12) and a rapid increase in skill difficulty. Given this data, further injury prevention strategies and a greater focus on fundamental skill training should be implemented.