MAYWOOD, Ill., June 14 (UPI) -- In 2005, 512,000 basketball injuries were treated at U.S. hospital emergency rooms, followed by 485,000 bicycle injuries and 418,000 football injuries.
"Athletes, youngsters and weekend warriors alike can wind up in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to these sports," said Dr. Pietro Tonino, director, division of sports medicine, Loyola University Health System, in Maywood, Ill.
Tonino analyzed data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and compiled a list of the sports with the greatest number of injuries treated at hospital emergency rooms.
One of the most common knee injuries in sports is a non-contact anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL injury. The ACL, a rope-like bundle of fibrous tissue in the center of the knee, connects the front of the lower leg with the back of the upper leg and helps a person bend their knee, jump and squat. Seventy percent of ACL injuries are non-contact; the other 30 percent result from collision with a person or an object, according to Tonino.
The sports with the least reported hospital-treated injuries were: in-line skating with 26,935 injuries, tennis with 19,487 injuries and track & field with 17,306 injuries.
