A systematic review of genitourinary injuries arising from rugby and football

Abstract

Genitourinary injuries in athletes engaging in high-impact sports such as football and rugby may have catastrophic consequences, especially in individuals with pre-existing urologic concerns, such as a solitary kidney. To summarize the current literature on football-related or rugby-related genitourinary organ injuries in both adult and pediatric populations in an effort to risk stratify the likelihood of these injuries. An independent systematic literature search for records reporting football-related or rugby-related injuries was conducted by a certified librarian and reviewer in March 2019. The search electronic databases includedMedline, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science. All studies reporting football-related or rugby-related genitourinary injuries were included. Twenty-two records (11 research studies, 11 case reports) were identified. In the pediatric population, the reported football-related kidney injuries were 0.1-0.7% of all football-related injuries, 0.07-0.5% of all sports-related injuries, and 1.5-37.5% of all sports-related genitourinary injuries, with incidence ranging from 0.00000084 to 0.0000092 injuries per exposure (five studies). Pediatric football-related testicular injuries were reported to be 0.11% of all football injuries, 0-0.07% of all sports-related injuries, and 0-37.5% of all sports-related genitourinary injuries; injury per exposure was 0.0000092 (four studies). In adults, there was no proportion of genitourinary injuries that could be determined, and football-related kidney injury incidence was 0.000012 injuries per exposure (one study). No adult literature investigated testicular injuries. Eleven case reports were additionally identified. Review of the case reports suggests that patients with previously existing urologic abnormalities such as ureteropelvic junction obstruction may predispose an individual to kidney injuries. There is little to suggest that those engaged in football or rugby have a significant risk of genitourinary injury; therefore, future guidelines should reflect this.