Sport and recreation-related head injuries treated in the emergency department

Objective: Head injury (HI) in sport is common and can have serious consequ ences. This study examines the epidemiology of sport/recreational (SR)-rela ted HI presenting to the emergency department (ED). Design: Retrospective review of medical records. Setting: Five EDs in the C apital Health Region (Edmonton) located in the province of Alberta, Canada. Patients: All persons in a 1-year period reporting to the EDs with an HI. H I was defined as IC9-CM coded skull fracture, loss of consciousness, or con cussion. Main Outcome Measures: Hospitalization, utilization of diagnostic testing, and discharge destination. Results: In total, 10,877 (3%) of 288,948 ED encounters were for sports and recreational injuries; 358 (3%) were for HI. Males (71%) were more frequen tly injured; patients < 20 years old were involved in 66% of all HI cases. The highest proportion of HI occurred during ice hockey (21%), cycling (13% ), and playground-related activities (8%). 9% of HI were hospitalized (vers us 4% admission rate for other SR injuries; p < 0.01). Conclusions: These results demonstrate the utility of an ED-based injury re gistry and indicate that patients with HI presenting to the ED from SR acti vities are common. These injuries appear to be more severe than other types of SR injuries treated in the ED.