'Skyrocketing' Number of Injuries due to Children's Sports-Related TBIs

Shocking statistics show that more children are visiting the emergency room due to sports-related concussions and other forms of traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

Research shows that nearly 4,000 children and teens were admitted to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center due to sports-related TBIs between 2002 and 2011. The research showed a 92 percent increase in cases during the nine year period.

The number of emergency room visits for children with sports-related concussions and other forms of head injuries has dramatically increased over the years.

The researchers found that the number of teens and younger children who were admitted to the hospital with the same diagnosis had seen a 10 percent increase throughout the years. However, they note via the study that cases seen during later years were less severe and typically required a shorter hospital stay that those previously documented.

"More people are seeking care for TBI in the emergency department, and proportionately more are being admitted for observation," Dr. Holly Hanson, an emergency medicine fellow at Cincinnati Children's and lead author of the study, said via a press release.

Dr. Hanson also added that they anticipate that new policy changes may help primary care physicians due to the passage of recent Ohio legislation.

Luckily, researchers found that injury severity decreased significantly from an average medical score of 7.8 to 4.8., rating various activities to the highest admission rates for emergency visits, including skiing, sledding, inline skating and skateboarding. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks a Traumatic Brain Injury as a bump, blow or jolt to the head that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI and the severity can range from "mild" to severe in which there is loss of consciousness for an extended period of time. 

Every year, at least 1.7 million TBIs occur either as an isolated injury or along with other injuries.