SNOWBOARD TRAUMATOLOGY - AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY

In the past 10 years, snowboarding has become a popular winter sport a mong young people, and the number of accidents has increased proportio nately. The incidence of traumas from snowboarding is shown to be 4 to 6 for every 1000 medical examinations, which is similar to that of do wnhill skiing. However, other important statistical differences exist between the two sports. This study of 106 snowboarding-related injury cases analyzes the epidemiology of these injuries in Italy. Results fo und that 45.1% of injuries are located in the upper limbs and that sig nificant advantages are obtained with the introduction of guards to pr otect the upper limbs during descent. Serious ligament injuries to the knee are more rare in snowboarding than in downhill skiing. In both s ports, injuries are more common with rigid boots, which lead to a high er incidence of injury to the upper limbs. Finally, a high percentage of injury to beginners was found in this study. Training courses for t hose who are considering taking up the sport of snowboarding could sig nificantly lower their risk of trauma.