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Bilateral femoral shaft fractures in an adolescent snowboarder

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Abstract

A 23-year-old male snowboarder suffered bilateral femoral shaft fractures from a jumping accident. On the day following the injury, closed intramedullary nailings with static locking were inserted. Follow-up radiographs revealed that bone unions had formed in the bilateral femurs. The patient was able to walk without the help of a cane, and returned to work. Snowboard injuries most frequently involve the upper extremities, so that there have been no previous reports of bilateral femoral shaft fractures in snowboarders. Generally, femoral shaft fractures result from high-energy injury; however, in this case, the board dug into the ground on landing, and the patient was pitched forward with his lower legs bound to the ground via the board so that the indirect force caused the bilateral femoral shaft fractures. Jumping is becoming the main cause of snowboard injuries. Therefore, in order to decrease the number of snowboard-associated injuries, we should encourage snowboarders to be more cautious about jumping.

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Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Kaoru Miki for her assistance with the illustration.

Conflict of interest statement

No funds were received in support of this study.

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Correspondence to Makoto Emori.

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Emori, M., Takada, J., Imoto, K. et al. Bilateral femoral shaft fractures in an adolescent snowboarder. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 20, 259–261 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-009-0543-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-009-0543-6

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