U.S. pickleball eye injuries surge, study finds

A study published in JAMA Ophthalmology found a sharp rise in U.S. emergency department visits for eye injuries linked to pickleball, estimating 3,112 such injuries between 2005 and 2024 and a surge concentrated in the last three years. Researchers reported that 88 percent of those ocular injuries occurred from 2022 to 2024, with an estimated 1,262 cases in 2024 alone, and calculated an annual increase of about 405 cases per year from 2021 to 2024.

The investigators identified 2,472 emergency department records for pickleball-related injuries from 2005 through 2024, of which 73 involved the eye. Applying sampling weights from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, a nationally representative probability sample of about 100 hospitals, produced the weighted national estimate of 3,112 ocular injuries and roughly 137,471 total pickleball-related injuries over the period. Mean age of patients with eye injuries was 53.9 years and about 56 percent were men. People aged 50 and older accounted for a larger share of ocular injuries than younger patients.

Most eye injuries resulted from a direct strike by the ball, which accounted for roughly 43 percent of cases; 12 percent...