Increasing Trend in Pediatric Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Injuries Presenting to US Emergency Departments and an Injury Profile - A 10-Year Analysis.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is an increasingly popular martial arts discipline. Yet, BJJ injuries remain understudied in light of increasing popularity. In particular, pediatric injuries have a dearth of literature examining epidemiologic trends and injury profiles. As such, this study's purpose was to evaluate trends in pediatric Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) injuries over a 10-year period and formulate an injury profile. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database was queried for martial arts related injuries from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2021. Codes, and narratives were examined to compile data for patients 18 years of age or younger sustaining BJJ-related injuries. In the study period there were 7722 recorded martial arts related injuries (national estimate [NE]= 282 315) , with 264 (NE= 8357) pediatric BJJ related injuries identified. In all, 70.4% of the patients were male, and the average age was 11.6 years of age (range 4-18).There was a statistically significant increasing linear trend in pediatric BJJ injuries from 2012 to 2021 (P< .001). Most injuries were treated in emergency departments without admission. The most common diagnoses weresprains/strains (28.3%), fractures (20.1%), and the most injured body parts were head (14.2%), shoulder (9.8%), and lower arm (8.9%). This study presents novel data concerning pediatric BJJ injuries epidemiology and injury profile, providing useful information for health care professionals to treat these patients.