Hand injuries in sports – a retrospective analysis of 364 cases
Abstract Background Hand injuries are common in sports and associated with high drop-out rates and costs. Considering the multiplicity of health benefits of regular physical exercise, efforts should strive for rising the safety of sports. This implies knowledge of sports injury risk profiles. So far, major surveillance programs exist mainly in the Anglo-American countries, reflecting the specific concerns of sports in this part of the world. Data on sports injuries within Europe are scarce. As sports behavior appears to vary demographically, we hypothesized that risk injury profiles differ as well. Methods To assess, whether the described sports injuries of the hand, published internationally, are applicable to the German population, we performed a five-year retrospective, single-center analysis of sports-related hand injuries, using the data of the Enterprise Clinical Research Warehouse of Hannover Medical School. Results Notable differences in comparison to other data were observed. Ball sports, cycling and equestrian sports caused most of the recorded hand injuries, which were predominantly fractures of the wrist and hand. Hand injuries in equestrian sports were associated with significantly higher operation and hospitalisation rates as well as a significantly longer inpatient treatment. Conclusion National as well as European registry studies are needed in order to better estimate the risk patterns of sports injuries and reduce the sequelae.