AN EPIDEMIC OF ROLLER-BLADE INJURIES IN CHILDREN

Roller blading is a new and increasingly popular leisure activity in m any countries. We reviewed 110 consecutive patients with roller-blade injuries between 1 January and 30 June 1996. The patients ranged from 4 to 14 years in age (mean 6.5 years). Eighty-three (75.4%) sustained injuries to the upper limb and 27 (24.5%) injured the lower limb. Fift y-six patients were girls and 54 were boys. OI the 110 patients, 79 (7 2.7%) sustained fractures, 28 (25.4%) soft tissue injuries and 3 (2.7% ) dislocations. Eighty-three (75.4%) of the patients wove no protectiv e equipment on the limbs. Four months following injury 103 (93.6%) pat ients were fully recovered. The mean duration of school absence was 3 days. Subsequently 101 children returned to using roller-blades follow ing injury. Seventy-three (66.3%) of these now use protective equipmen t. We found that injuries were unrelated to age or duration of roller- binding experience or to the brand-name of roller blades used, and tha t most of our patients wore no protective equipment at the time of inj ury. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.