Common game injury scenarios in men's and women's lacrosse

Abstract

Previous research has found that the location, type and mechanisms of injuries in lacrosse players vary by gender. The patterns and risk factors of injuries in lacrosse players are still not well known. The study population consists of lacrosse players who utilised the accident medical insurance provided to US Lacrosse members. Cluster analysis was used to explore the aetiology of lacrosse-related injuries. Between 2002 and 2006 there were 593 game injuries, 496 in men and 97 in women. There were six clusters of injuries in women and five clusters of injuries in men. Play scenarios resulting in injury differed by the position played. In all the five injury clusters in males, the primary injury mechanism was by contact, either with another player, a stick or a ball. In women, body-to-body and stick-to-body, and no contact were the most common injury mechanisms. In both genders, the majority of injuries occurred during legal play. These results provide a picture of high-risk situations that lead to injuries in male and female lacrosse players. Future efforts should be made to confirm these results through epidemiologic studies. Further research should also address the effectiveness of interventions that could reduce the risk of injury in these situations.

Video Incident Analysis of Head Injuries in High School Girls’ Lacrosse

“…20 Girls' lacrosse is an incidental contact sport and thus has little mandatory protective equipment, other than eyewear and a mouthguard. 4 Our findings support earlier observational studies suggesting that a significant percentage of head injuries in girls' lacrosse result from unintentional stick contact to the head. 7,12,15 Using video analysis, we revealed that most head injuries resulted from unintentional stick contact while defending a shot.…”

Characterizing Verified Head Impacts in High School Girls’ Lacrosse

“…7,38,39 The sport’s rising popularity, combined with anecdotal reports of increasingly aggressive game play, 5,9 has contributed to growing concerns about not only concussions but also repetitive head impacts. 6,7,17,21,39…”

“…14 DOI: 10.1177/0363546517724754 Ó 2017 The Author(s) has contributed to growing concerns about not only concussions but also repetitive head impacts. 6,7,17,21,39 While the potential adverse effects of repetitive concussions have been suggested, much remains to be understood about the consequences of chronic exposure to nonconcussive repetitive head impacts. 3 Crisco and colleagues 11 defined ''head impact exposure'' as a broad term that incorporates athlete-exposure (AE) and impact frequency, magnitude, and location along with cumulative measures of head impacts.…”

Game-Related Impacts in High School Boys’ Lacrosse

“…16 Previous research has reported that the majority of concussions in boys’ high school lacrosse result from player contact 19 and that many impacts to the head do not result in a penalty. 7,16 Although only a single case fitting this criterion resulted in a concussion in the present study, such “defenseless hits” are, in many cases, preventable and represent an area for increased player protection via education and rule enforcement.…”