To date, much of the research regarding sudden death during sports participation has focused on cardiovascular causes. However, some deaths during sports are trauma-related.
The study, "Epidemiology of Sudden Death in Young, Competitive Athletes Due to Blunt Trauma," in the July 2011 issue of Pediatrics (published online June 20), analyzed a 30-year national registry of sudden death events for athletes. During that time frame, there were 1,827 deaths of athletes under age 21. A significant proportion of these blunt trauma deaths occurred upon return to play after a previous head trauma.
On average, there were nine trauma-related deaths reported each year, with football accounting for 57 percent of the deaths. The type of trauma that caused death most frequently was confined to the head and/or neck, including 12 boxing deaths and 10 helmet-to-helmet blows in football. Baseball accounted for 16 deaths related to head trauma. Most of the fatal events reported in this study were preventable.
The authors point out this research underscores the importance of developing more effective equipment design, better return-to-play decision strategies and greater education.
