Original ContributionsSerious winter sport injuries in children and adolescents requiring hospitalization☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Case 1
During a ski lesson, an 11-year-old male skier collided with a tree at high speed. He suffered immediate loss of consciousness. A nearby emergency medical technician responded, using basic life-support techniques while maintaining cervical spine precautions. Bag-valve-mask (BVM) ventilation was initiated. The patient's Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score was 3, his pupils were normally reactive, and his vital signs were stable. Following rapid-sequence intubation, the patient was transported by
Methods
PCMC is a level-one trauma center and the only designated pediatric facility for an area encompassing 7 major winter specialty resorts. All patient records of injuries sustained through participation in a winter sport and requiring inpatient hospitalization were collected prospectively and extracted for retrospective analysis. Data were collected from 1996 to 2000. We defined winter sports as skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, or lugeing. All children presenting to PCMC for evaluation for
Results
A total of 101 patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the patients was 10.7 years, with an age range of 4 to 17 years. Males constituted 68% of the patient population (Table 2). Most of the patients (71%) were skiers. Snowboarders constituted 26% of the patients, subjects with snowmobile-related injuries constituted 3%, and 1 patient was injured while on a luge. As shown in Table 2, there were no observed gender-related differences in types of sports-related injury, but there
Discussion
This study describes serious injuries sustained through participation in winter sports exclusively in a pediatric and adolescent population, and helps to clarify the epidemiology of this public health problem. Almost one third of patients requiring hospitalization suffered head injuries. This population of patients also had high AIS values and ISS scores, and long hospital stays. We found that none of the patients with serious head injuries used protective safety equipment such as a skiing
Conclusion
Injuries sustained through participation in winter sports may be associated with significant morbidity and possibly with mortality in children and adolescents. Injury-prevention strategies for these groups should focus on head injuries and helmet use.
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Cited by (42)
A chilling reminder: Pediatric facial trauma from recreational winter activities
2016, International Journal of Pediatric OtorhinolaryngologyCitation Excerpt :Accordingly, participation in these activities has expanded considerably with successive generations, with an estimated 10 million millenials reporting participation in 2012 [1]. Unfortunately, these activities harbor a significant potential for devastating injury, as greater than a quarter of individuals seeking medical attention may require care from an interdisciplinary trauma team [2]. With rising participation rates in mind, understanding common traumatic mechanisms may facilitate discourse regarding optimal injury prevention strategies.
Traumatic brain injuries and computed tomography use in pediatric sports participants
2015, American Journal of Emergency MedicineCitation Excerpt :Most studies of sports-related TBIs have been limited by retrospective assessments, data extraction from administrative data sets, or lack of standardized definitions of clinical predictors or outcomes [4–6]. Much previous work has also been limited to injuries related to individual sports using administrative data sets or small samples [7–12]. These limitations make it difficult for clinicians to apply these data to ED management, particularly in assessing the risk associated with particular sports mechanisms.
Pediatric management by mobile intensive care units in the northern French Alps emergency network
2015, Archives de PediatrieEmployee perception of a mandated helmet policy at vail resorts
2013, Wilderness and Environmental MedicineSearching for ski-lift injury: An uphill struggle?
2010, Journal of Science and Medicine in SportFacial Trauma: How Dangerous Are Skiing and Snowboarding?
2010, Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeryCitation Excerpt :Some investigators, for example, do include jumping in the category of falls.26,27 Among skiers, falls are responsible for 43% to 76% of all injuries,19,28-31 collisions for 11% to 58%,19,20,27,31-35 and lift-related injuries for 5% to 18%.27,32 The data gathered in our study correspond to the numbers mentioned previously, with falls, collisions, and lift accidents being accountable for 43.4%, 26.2%, and 5.4% of all trauma, respectively.
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Address reprints requests to: Elisabeth Guenther Skokan, MD, MPH, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Primary Children's Medical Center, 100 No. Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, UT, 84113. Email: [email protected]
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