Clinical characteristics and treatment strategies of 128 cases of injury due to winter snow sports in parts of Qingdao / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics and management strategies of the patients who were injured in winter snow sports in parts of Qingdao in order to provide useful information for "300 million people participating in ice and snow sports" .Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the data of 128 patients who had been admitted to Department of Orthopaedics, Qingdao Central Hospital for skiing injuries from November 2019 to March 2021. The gender, type, location and cause of injury, and treatment method of the patients were statistically analyzed.Results:Of the 128 patients, 72 were males and 56 females with an age of (32.0±12.1) years. Single injury accounted for 97.66% (125/128) while multiple injuries 2.34% (3/128). 46 injuries (35.11%, 46/131) due to single board skiing occurred in 44 patients (34.38%, 44/128); 85 injuries (64.89%, 85/131) due to double board skiing occurred in 84 cases (65.62%, 84/128). As for injury types, there were 44 cases (34.38%, 44/128) of soft tissue injury and 84 fractures (65.62%, 84/128). The top 3 injured locations were the lower leg (24.43%, 32/131), the peri-wrist part (18.32%, 24/131), and the peri-knee part (15.27%, 20/131). The most vulnerable location was, respectively, the wrist joint (26.09%, 12/46) in single board skiing and the calf (31.76%, 27/85) in double board skiing. The top three causes of injury were accidental fall (39.06%, 50/128), being struck by someone or emergency evacuation (14.84%, 19/128), and mismatched equipment models (12.50%, 16/128). The proportion of skiing beginners was as high as 76.56% (98/128). Surgical treatment was performed in 49 cases (38.28%, 49/128), and conservative treatment in 79 cases (61.72%, 79/128).Conclusions:The clinical characteristics of the patients who were injured in winter snow sports in parts of Qingdao are high proportions of skiing beginners, falls and fractures. Special attention needs to be paid to wrist protection in single board skiing and checking the ski disengagement device before double board skiing. Most patients may need only conservative treatment because although a number of patients required surgical treatment, severe multiple injuries were rare.