Impact with ground, snow accounts for more than 70% of pediatric skiing-related injuries
Key takeaways:
- Among skiing injuries between 2012 and 2022, rates of sprains and contusions decreased, while rates of fractures and concussions fluctuated.
- Impact with the ground or snow accounted for 70.8% of all injuries.
A study of pediatric skiing-related injuries showed rates of sprains and contusions decreased, while rates of fractures and concussions fluctuated between 2012 and 2022, despite increased adoption of protective gear.
In addition, results showed impact with the ground or snow was the most common injury mechanism, accounting for 70.8% of all injuries. Lower leg fractures were also common, according to the study.
“The study findings indicated that skiing-related injuries in the pediatric population fluctuated between 2012 and 2022, with no significant linear trend,” Avanish Yendluri, BS, and colleagues from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai wrote in the study.
Yendluri and colleagues performed an epidemiology study of 2,951 cases of pediatric skiing-related injuries reported at U.S. EDs between January 2012 and December 2022. They used National Electronic Injury Surveillance System data to calculate national estimates (NE) for pediatric skiing-related injuries. According to the study, the overall NE of injuries was 123,386. Mean patient age was 12.4 years. Snowboarding injuries were excluded.
Yendluri and colleagues found impacts with the ground or snow accounted for 70.8% of injuries (NE = 87,407 injuries). Among all injuries, 31.2% were fractures (NE = 38,527 injuries), 18.3% were strains or sprains (NE = 22,562 injuries), 13.2% were contusions or abrasions (NE = 16,257 injuries) and 10.1% were concussions (NE = 12, 449 injuries). The most common fracture sites were the lower leg (24.7%; NE = 9,509 injuries), shoulder (18.5%; NE = 7,131) and forearm (15.3%; 5,876).
Yendluri and colleagues found a significant decrease in overall incidences of strains or sprains and contusions or abrasions during the study period. However, they found no significant decrease in overall incidences of concussions or fractures.
“Alarmingly, despite increased awareness and increased use of helmets and protective gear, there was no significant decline in concussion and fracture-type injuries between 2012 and 2022,” they wrote.
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