An analysis of roller skating injuries.

This study retrospectively examines 186 patients treated for roller skating-related injuries. The average patient age was 25.3 years, with males comprising 44% and females 56% of the patients. Of the 202 injuries, there were 130 fractures and 72 soft tissue injuries. The majority of the injuries involved the wrist (47%), while the elbow ranked second (14%) and the ankle third (10%). All fractures of the tibia-fibula and ankle involved a rotational mechanism, with 75% of ankle fractures involving the posterior malleolus. Ankle fractures accounted for 46% of all surgical cases. Although inexperienced skaters were involved in 77% of all accidents, experienced skaters' injuries required surgery twice as often. Female roller skaters were more frequently injured, but males had three times more operations. Over 90% of the skaters wore no protection. Skaters who seldom participated in other sports had a higher probability of being injured earlier, especially on their first try. This study indicates that roller skating injuries are influenced by skating experience, surface texture, skate type and quality, and protective equipment.

Tonsillectomy and infectious mononucleosis.

Tonsillar tissue may be the primary site of infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the etiologic agent of classical infectious mononucleosis (IM). Therefore, a retrospective study of the association between tonsillectomy and IM was performed in a college student population. In the first part of the study, tonsillectomy rates were compared between 164 IM-positive students and 164 student controls who attended UCLA in 1972-1975. Although it was determined that the development of IM during college years was statistically less commin in tonsillectomized students, the difference was not inordinately large and probably had no significant biologic meaning. The authors speculate that the difference was due to the greater likelihood, and greater yield, in considering the diagnosis of IM in young adults with enlarged, inflamed tonsils. In support of this is the fact that IM-positive students who had received a prior tonsillectomy usually had the surgical procedure performed at a younger age than the control group. Conceivably, tonsillar ablation in the very young is more liable to result in incomplete removal and eventual regrowth of this tissue. Indeed, six IM-positive students who had received a tonsillectomy at six years of age or less were found to have exudate in tonsillar fossae or pillars during their IM episode. In the second part of the study, clinical and laboratory measures were found to be similar between a larger group of IM-positive students with or without a history of prior tonsillectomy.