Assessing the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on pediatric baseball and basketball-related craniofacial and neck injuries treated in United States emergency departments, 2003-2022.

BACKGROUND: A large proportion of United States (U.S.) youth play basketball, baseball, softball, or T-ball. Each of the activities poses a documented risk of craniofacial and neck injuries. However, few studies have assessed the national prevalence of pediatric craniofacial and neck injuries in this population, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) dataset was used to identify pediatric craniofacial and neck injuries associated with basketball, baseball, softball, or T-ball from 2003-2022 in a cross-sectional study. The annual number of injuries before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) was used to estimate the pandemic's impact on the monthly number of injuries incurred nationally.

RESULTS: Both overall and stratified by sport involvement, the annual number and rate of injuries identified in NEISS decreased significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic. ITSA demonstrated that the monthly number of injuries decreased -4094.4 (95% CI = -5100, -3088.7) immediately after the beginning of the pandemic. The number of injuries began increasing towards pre-pandemic levels at a rate of 110.6 (95% CI = 64, 157.2) injuries per month after the initial plunge.

CONCLUSION: Prior to the-pandemic, there was a steady decline in craniofacial and neck injuries due to basketball, baseball, softball and T-ball among children, aged <18 years. The shutdown during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a precipitous drop in such injuries. Current rates are approaching pre-pandemic levels and may exceed them. Continued efforts are needed to keep the pre-pandemic progress.