{
  "abstract": "Background/Objectives: Sacral fractures are clinically important injuries that may be occult at presentation and may occur after both low-energy falls and higher-energy trauma. National emergency department data describing temporal trends, mechanisms, associated fractures, and disposition remain limited. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System from 2003 to 2022. Sacral fracture emergency department visits were identified using diagnosis and body-part codes with narrative confirmation of sacral involvement. National estimates were generated using NEISS survey weights. The primary outcome was population-based ED visits per 100,000 United States population, overall and stratified by sex. Secondary outcomes included mechanism category, injury location, concurrent vertebral or hip fracture, and emergency department disposition. Results: A total of 1747 sacral fracture emergency department visits were identified, representing an estimated 72,215 national visits. Low-energy falls accounted for 67.9% of presentations. Mean age was 61.1 years, and 70.0% of patients were female. Injuries most commonly occurred at home (50.5%). Annual ED visit rate increased from 2003 to 2022, with a steeper rise among females than males. Disposition varied by mechanism. Motor vehicle or transport-related injuries had the highest admission or hospitalization proportion (54.6%), whereas high-energy falls had the highest treated-and-released proportion (62.0%). In survey-aware multinomial regression, increasing age was associated with lower odds of high-energy falls, motor vehicle or transport injuries, and non-fall other injuries compared with low-energy falls. Male sex was associated with motor vehicle or transport mechanism. Conclusions: National emergency department presentations for sacral fractures increased from 2003 to 2022 and were dominated by low-energy falls among older female patients. However, transport-related and higher-energy mechanisms showed distinct demographic and disposition patterns. These findings supported trauma-system awareness, mechanism-informed co-injury screening, and orthopedic or spine referral pathways for sacral fracture presentations.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Medicine, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA",
    "Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45409, USA",
    "Department of Neurosurgery, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA",
    "Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 15,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Favour C. Ononogbu-Uche",
      "orcid": "0009-0004-7548-0261"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "William J. Bohne",
      "orcid": "0009-0003-3890-2501"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Arnav Sharma"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Arianna Brinkley",
      "orcid": "0009-0001-5737-5773"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Andrii A. Del Rosario"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Karim Akl"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Richard Jiang",
      "orcid": "0009-0005-7165-3230"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Harry Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Andrew W. Froehle",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9561-2389"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Allen A. Champagne"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Ethan Cottrill"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "William Richardson",
      "orcid": "0009-0003-7526-7797"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Malcolm DeBaun"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Norah A. Foster"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Muhammad M. Abd-El-Barr",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7151-2861"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ee80b9z27nz9p.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/jcm15207895",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13705400/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "ee80b9z27nz9p",
  "issns": [
    "2077-0383"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/15/20/7895",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2746|Pelvic and Acetabular Injuries"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221648994",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13705400/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13705400",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ee80b9z27nz9p.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:00Z",
      "native_id": "10.3390/jcm15207895",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/15/20/7895"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:31Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13705400",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13705400"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2746|Pelvic and Acetabular Injuries",
      "subfield": "surgery"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Sacral Fractures Are Increasing in Frequency, with Females and Falls Comprising the Majority: A NEISS Cross-Sectional Study from 2003 to 2022",
  "title_text": "Sacral Fractures Are Increasing in Frequency, with Females and Falls Comprising the Majority: A NEISS Cross-Sectional Study from 2003 to 2022",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:21:31Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ee80b9z27nz9p",
  "venue": "Journal of Clinical Medicine",
  "versions": []
}