Epidemiology of United States tennis-related ocular injuries from 2000 to 2019

Abstract

To characterize trends in ocular tennis injuries over the last 20 years. METHODSThe National Electronic Injury Surveillance System was utilized to characterize tennis-related eye injuries in a nationally representative sample of emergency department visits. Data were divided into 5 age groups, and various demographic information was obtained. RESULTSApproximately 16,000 tennis-related ocular injuries were identi ed with males being affected nearly 2:1 compared to females. The youngest age group (0-20) had the greatest proportion of injuries, with most injuries in boys 11-15 years old. Injuries occurred most often during the spring season. Most patients were treated and released from the ED. Of those patients who were hospitalized, one-third had an open globe injury. CONCLUSIONSThe overall number of injuries trended downward during the timespan of the study. Although most patients did not experience serious visual consequences, the greatest proportion of ocular tennis injuries occurred in the pediatric age group in whom the risk of amblyopia is high. Primary care providers and tennis regulatory bodies should consider recommending eye safety sports goggles in children to mitigate the potential for signi cant visual morbidity.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) consensus paper on sports-related ophthalmology issues in elite sports

“…[12][13][14][15][16][17] A limitation of the current research is that datasets often rely on emergency department data, which may only collect the most severe injuries (eg, National Electronic Injury Surveillance System). 18 In addition, many studies reported on the most commonly presented eye issues as absolute numbers rather than as relative proportions, meaning that when a sport is popular in a specific country, it is not surprising that those sports stand for the most injuries.…”

A low carrying angle is measured in elite tennis players just before ball impact during the forehand, suggesting a dynamic varus instant accommodation moving towards full extension

“…The quick, intense and repeated start-stop movements, during which players perform sudden changes of direction while running and striking a ball at high speeds induces high loading forces [2,3]. Even if cranial, ocular and lower extremities' injuries are frequent, the ones affecting the upper body are rather sport specific [4,5].…”