TRAMPOLINE-RELATED INJURIES

Two hundred and seventeen patients who had sustained an injury during the recreational use of a trampoline were managed in the emergency roo m of Logan Regional Hospital in Logan, Utah, from January 1991 through December 1992. We retrospectively reviewed the charts and radiographs of these patients to categorize the injuries. Additional details rega rding the injuries of seventy-two patients (33 per cent) were obtained by means of a telephone interview with use of a questionnaire. The in juries occurred from February through November, with the peak incidenc e in July The patients were eighteen months to forty-five years old (a verage, ten years old); ninety-four patients (43 per cent) mere five t o nine Sears old. Eighty-four patients (39 per cent) sustained a fract ure; fifty-four (25 per cent), a sprain or strain; forty-five (21 per cent), a laceration; and thirty-four (16 per cent), a contusion. Fifty -seven injuries (26 per cent) involved the elbow or forearm; forty-six (21 per cent), the head or neck; forty (18 per cent), the ankle or fo ot; thirty-three (15 per cent), the knee or leg; nineteen (9 per cent) , the trunk or back; thirteen (6 per cent), the shoulder or arm; and n ine (4 per cent), the wrist or hand. Thirteen patients (6 per cent) ha d a back injury, but none of them had a permanent neurological deficit . One patient who had an ocular injury was transferred to a tertiary c are center. One hundred and fifty-six patients (72 per cent) were eval uated radiographically, fifteen (7 per cent) were admitted to the hosp ital, and thirteen (6 per cent) had an operation. Although severe and Life-threatening injuries were rare, the estimated average cost of the emergency-room visits, radiographs, stays in the hospital, and operat ions was $673 per patient. On the basis of the patterns of the injurie s and the results of the telephone survey, our recommendations for red ucing the number of trampoline-related injuries are to place padding o n the bars and springs, to limit the number of participants on the tra mpoline to one at a time, to place the trampoline in a hole so that th e jumping surface is at ground level, to avoid somersaults and other h igh-risk maneuvers, to comply with the manufacturer's instructions, an d to allow children to use the trampoline only with parental supervisi on.