ROLLERBLADING IN CHILDREN - THE EDINBURGH EXPERIENCE

Objective-To determine the incidence and severity of injuries sustaine d by children who present to an accident and emergency (A&E) departmen t following rollerblading accidents. Design-A prospective case-control study. Setting-The A&E department of a city centre paediatric teachin g hospital. Methods-Data were collected on a specially designed profor ma on each child presenting with an injury sustained while rollerbladi ng. The injury severity score was calculated for each patient and deta ils were taken of the length of admission or outpatient follow up wher e appropriate. Results-Seventy four children (37 male; 37 female) pres ented with injuries over a three month period. The age range was 6-13 years in both groups. Half the injuries occurred at weekends. Fracture s (n=37) and soft tissue injuries (n=28) were the most prevalent; 89%, of injuries involved the limbs. Sixty eight children (92%) required t reatment in A&E. Four (3%) were admitted to hospital and required oper ative procedures under general anaesthetic. The injury severity score ranged from 1 to 9 with a mean of 2.8. The length of hospital stay for admissions was 1-3 days; 47 children required follow up in the outpat ient department (1-3 visits). Average length of outpatient contact was 18 days. Conclusions-This study shows a greater incidence of rollerbl ading injuries than has been reported elsewhere. No figures are at pre sent available for the United Kingdom as a whole.