College athletes are some of the most physically fit individuals in the world, but that doesn’t mean they are immune to injury. In fact, due to the nature of their sports, many college athletes end up needing conservative or operative care to treat an injury. But which college sports are most likely to lead to the need for surgical intervention? Below, we take a look at the most dangerous college sports for injury and surgery likelihood.
Highest Risk NCAA Sports
To get a better understanding of the health risks that college athletes face during practice and competition, researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai analyzed surgery rates from 25 different National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports. After examining the data, researchers found that women’s gymnastics was the sport with the highest rate of injuries that required surgery, with 8.9 injuries that required surgery for every 10,000 athletic exposures (AES). That was followed by men’s football (6.1 per 10,000 AES), and men’s wrestling (5.3 per 10,000 AES).
Other findings from the study include:
- Men’s football resulted in the most total surgeries, followed by women’s basketball and men’s basketball.
- ACL tears were the injury that had the highest surgery incidence rate per 100,000 AES for all sports combined.
- ACL tears also represented the injuries with the lowest rate of return to sport.
“Participation in sports facilitates lifelong skills such as teamwork, effective communication, and physical fitness. However, there is the risk of injury and associated long-term consequences, especially for some collegiate-level athletes,” said corresponding author Daniel A. Charen, M.D., resident, department of orthopedic surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “The focus of the NCAA, other governing bodies and health care providers should be on developing more successful injury prevention strategies for athletes—whether that involves adjusting training regimens or implementing changes to game rules.”
We treat athletes every day at our clinic, and the findings are in line with what we’ve seen over the decades of treating patients. Basketball and gymnastics are certainly sports that expose your feet, ankles and knees to injury, but that’s why we’re here to help. We know how difficult it can be to overcome these injuries and return to sport at a high level, but that’s why our care doesn’t stop when the surgery is complete.
After an operation, we’re with you every step of the way during your rehab and recovery. We’ll walk you through rehab exercises and make sure that your recovery remains on track. We have connections with physical therapists and other health professionals who can ensure that you return to sport stronger than you were when you first suffered the injury, so don’t leave anything up to chance when it comes to injuries and your ability to overcome them.