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Epidemiology of Achilles tendon injuries in collegiate level athletes in the United States

International Orthopaedics volume 44, pages 585–594 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Achilles injuries are devastating injuries, especially for competitive athletes. No studies have examined the outcomes of Achilles injuries in NCAA athletes. Therefore, a better characterization and understanding of the epidemiology is crucial.

Methods

Achilles injuries across 16 sports among NCAA men and women during the 2004–2005 to 2013–2014 academic years were analyzed using the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (NCAA-ISP). Achilles tendon injury rate (IR) per 100,000 athlete-exposures (AEs), operative rate, annual injury rate trends, reinjury rates, mechanism of injury, in-season status (pre/regular/post season), and time loss distributions were compiled and calculated. A sub-analysis of comparing gender and injury mechanism was also performed for both all injuries and severe injuries.

Results

Overall, N = 255 Achilles injuries were identified with an injury rate (IR) of 2.17 (per 100,000 AEs). These injuries occurred most often in women’s gymnastics (IR = 16.73), men’s basketball (IR = 4.26), and women’s basketball (IR = 3.32), respectively. N = 52 injuries were classified as severe injuries which have higher median time loss (48 days) and higher operative rate (65.4%). For severe Achilles injuries, female athletes had higher operative (77.8% vs. 58.8%) and higher time loss compared to male athletes (96 days vs. 48 days). Contact mechanisms were associated with a higher season-ending injury rate.

Conclusion

Overall, 20.4% of Achilles injuries were considered severe with 65.6% operative rate. About 73.1% were season-ending injuries, and the remaining athletes have a median time loss of 48 days. Severe Achilles injuries create significant impact on playing time and career for NCAA athletes.

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Affiliations

  1. Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 5 E 98th St, 9th Fl, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Jimmy J. Chan, Kevin K. Chen, Salman Sarker, Rohit Hasija, Hsin-Hui Huang, Javier Z. Guzman & Ettore Vulcano

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  1. Jimmy J. Chan
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  2. Kevin K. Chen
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  3. Salman Sarker
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Correspondence to Ettore Vulcano.

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Association Between Gender and Injury Mechanism and Outcomes

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Chan, J.J., Chen, K.K., Sarker, S. et al. Epidemiology of Achilles tendon injuries in collegiate level athletes in the United States. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 44, 585–594 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-019-04471-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-019-04471-2

Keywords

  • Achilles injury
  • NCAA
  • SAS