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Injuries to the Upper Extremity in Ice Hockey

Analysis of a Series of 760 Injuries

Jouko Mölsä, MD^*,, Urho Kujala, MD, PhD, Pertti Myllynen, MD, PhD^,||, Ilkka Torstila, MD, PhD^|| and Olavi Airaksinen, MD, PhD^a

^* LIKES Research Center for Sport and Health Sciences, Jyväskylä
Unit for Sports and Exercise Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki
Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki
^|| Pohjola Insurance Company, Ltd, Helsinki
^a Department of Physical Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Jouko Mölsä, MD, LIKES Research Center for Sports and Health Sciences, Rautpohjankatu 10, FIN-40700 Jyväskylä, Finland

Background: Injuries to the upper extremity are common in ice hockey.

Purpose: To investigate the mechanisms, types, and severity of upper extremity ice hockey injuries in patients in different age categories.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: We analyzed 760 consecutive upper extremity injuries in Finnish ice hockey players reported to an insurance company during 1996.

Results: The overall injury rate of upper extremity injuries was 14.8 per 1000 player-years; 70% occurred during games. Of the 861 injury types, 32% were contusions, 28% sprains or strains, and 27% fractures. Checking or other collisions with players caused 76% of the injuries to the shoulder (170 of 223), 55% of the injuries to the elbow (35 of 64), and 45% of the injuries to the distal extremity (213 of 473). Of the 561 injuries with known severity, 38% were major. The injury risk increased significantly with age, from players younger than 12 years to players 25 to 29 years of age. The injury profile among 15- to 19-year-old players was similar to that of adult players.

Conclusions: Injuries to the upper extremity are relatively serious because of the high number of shoulder injuries and fractures. The frequency of injuries increased with age. A considerable proportion of upper extremity injuries was caused by body checking.

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