Snowboarding injuries in children and adolescents

To study snowboarding injuries in children and adolescents, a 6-year retros pective study was conducted of patients 18 years old and younger admitted t o a pediatric trauma center after snowboarding accidents. The study was des igned to identify the most severely injured patients. Comparison was made t o data from a recent comparable study of skiing injuries. Twenty seven pati ents were identified, all but one male and none under 10 years old. Ninetee n were injured in a fall, 6 collided with a stationary object, one collided with a skier, and in one case the mechanism of injury was unclear. The ave rage pediatric trauma score was 10.5, and the average injury severity score 10.2. Most of the 12 head injuries were minor. Most extremity fractures we re to the upper extremity. There were two lumbar vertebral burst fractures, suggesting that the sport may predispose to this injury. There were no dea ths. When compared with skiing, in snowboarding the overall severity of inj ury is lower, collision is a less common mechanism of injury and results in less serious injury, head injuries are less severe, the relative frequency of upper extremity fracture is higher, abdominal injuries are caused by fa lls rather than collisions, and facial injuries are less common. These diff erences are predictable on the basis of differences in the equipment. Howev er, it is too early to say that snowboarding has less potential for life th reatening injury than skiing. Expected changes in the mix of participants, with an increase in the average skill level over time, may well result in d ifferent patterns, mechanisms, and severity of injury. Copyright (C) 1999 b y W.B. Saunders Company.