Loyola University Health System reported this week that basketball tops the list of sports associated with the most injuries, with more than 512,000 basketball-related injuries landing individuals in U.S. emergency rooms in 2005. Horseback riding was tenth on the list of recreational activities with 73,576 injuries associated with the sport.

Pietro Tonino, MD, director of the division of sports medicine, Loyola University Health System, Maywood, Ill., said, “Bicycles ranked second highest with 485,000 injuries, followed by football with 418,000 injuries. Soccer came in fourth at 174,000 injuries.” Tonino is also assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery in the department of orthopaedic surgery and rehabilitation at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

Tonino analyzed new 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:

Tonino noted that people need proper training and conditioning to reduce their injury risk in a new sport. He said many injuries can be prevented by wearing protective gear, knowing and playing by the rules of the game, and being physically fit