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Injury patterns and risk factors for orthopaedic trauma from snowboarding and skiing: a national perspective

  • Sports Medicine
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

Alpine skiing and snowboarding are both popular winter sports that can be associated with significant orthopaedic injuries. However, there is a lack of nationally representative injury data for the two sports.

Methods

The National Trauma Data Bank was queried for patients presenting to emergency departments due to injuries sustained from skiing and snowboarding during 2011 and 2012. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and injury patterns were tabulated and compared between skiing and snowboarding. Risk factors for increased injury severity score and lack of helmet use were identified using multivariate logistic regression.

Results

Of the 6055 patients identified, 55.2 % were skiers. Sixty-one percent had fractures. Lower extremity fractures were the most common injury and occurred more often in skiers (p < 0.001). Upper extremity fractures were more common in snowboarders, particularly distal radius fractures (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, increased injury severity was independently associated with age 18–29, 60–69, 70+, male sex, a positive blood test for alcohol, a positive blood test for an illegal substance, and wearing a helmet. Lack of helmet use was associated with age 18–29, 30–39, smoking, a positive drug test for an illegal substance, and snowboarding.

Conclusions

Young adults, the elderly, and those using substances were shown to be at greater risk of increased injury severity and lack of helmet use. The results of this study can be used clinically to guide the initial assessment of these individuals following injury, as well as for targeting preventive measures and education.

Level of evidence

Prognostic Level III.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, 1611 W. Harrison St, Suite 300, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Bryce A. Basques & Daniel D. Bohl

  2. Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Yale School of Medicine, 800 Howard Avenue, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA

    Elizabeth C. Gardner, Andre M. Samuel, Matthew L. Webb, Adam M. Lukasiewicz & Jonathan N. Grauer

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  1. Bryce A. Basques
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  2. Elizabeth C. Gardner
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  3. Andre M. Samuel
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  4. Matthew L. Webb
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  5. Adam M. Lukasiewicz
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  6. Daniel D. Bohl
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  7. Jonathan N. Grauer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan N. Grauer.

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IRB approval

This study received approval from our institution’s Human Investigations Committee.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 6.

Table 6 International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes for each injury location
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Basques, B.A., Gardner, E.C., Samuel, A.M. et al. Injury patterns and risk factors for orthopaedic trauma from snowboarding and skiing: a national perspective. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 26, 1916–1926 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-016-4137-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-016-4137-7

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