Snowboarder's wrist: Its severity compared with alpine skiing

Background: Although the upper extremity, especially the wrist, has been re ported to be the most commonly injured site in snowboarding, the severity o f these injuries is still unknown, The purpose of this study is to compare the severity of wrist injuries in snowboarding with those in alpine skiing for insight into the treatment of snowboarder's wrist, Materials and Methods: The cases of 11,598 patients injured while snowboard ing and skiing who presented to the Zao clinic during the past 7 seasons we re reviewed and compared. Demographics mere studied, focusing on fractures around the wrist joint. Roentgenographically precise assessment of the dist al radial fracture was performed according to AO classification. Results: Snowboarders were more likely to injure the wrist than were skiers (18.7% vs. 2.5%, p < 0.01), In these wrist injuries, distal radial fractur es occurred at a rate of 0.28 per 1000 snowboarders and 0.008 per 1000 skie rs, Comminuted and articular fractures classified as AO type A3, B and C, w hich required surgical treatment, were 49.4% of distal radial fractures in snowboarders and 23.8% in skiers. Conclusion: Wrist injury sustained while snowboarding is characterized as a severe and complex injury, Thus, we call attention to its severity in the treatment of snowboarder's wrist.