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Comparison of Ski and Snowboard Injuries that Occur Inside Versus Outside Terrain Parks

2010; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 42; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1249/01.mss.0000385054.56383.47

1530-0315

Michael Henrie, David J. Petron, Michelle Pepper, Jared R. Kirkham, Qing Chen, Stuart Willick,

Sports injuries and prevention

Skiing and snowboarding are sports with an inherent risk of injury. Recently there has been an increasing interest in performing tricks, with the implementation of terrain parks at resorts worldwide. The addition of terrain parks at resorts has likely changed injury patterns and frequencies. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to characterize the types of injuries that skiers and snowboarders incur when riding inside versus outside terrain parks, broken down by age group. METHODS: This is a descriptive sports injury epidemiology study in a cohort of patients seen at a large western resort ski clinic. All patients presenting to the clinic during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons were included. Injuries were categorized by age, body part and location (i.e. inside versus outside terrain parks). RESULTS: Of the injuries seen in clinic, 22.1% occurred inside terrain parks. The young adult group (17-24 years old) accounted for 47.6% of all terrain park injuries and the child/adolescent (24 years old) groups accounted for 36.5% and 15.9% respectively. In the child/adolescent group the most commonly injured body part inside and outside terrain parks was the wrist (33% and 36.8% respectively). The most commonly injured body part inside and outside terrain parks among the young adult group was the shoulder (25.4% and 22%). In the adult group shoulder injuries occurred more often inside terrain parks (22.2%) while knee injuries were more common outside terrain parks (36.7%). The percent of spine and head injuries inside the terrain parks was double that outside the terrains parks. The most common feature on which injury occurred inside terrain parks was jumps (64.1%). Among those injured on jumps the most commonly injured body part for skiers was shoulder (21.7%) and for snowboarders it was wrist (20.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Injury patterns differ inside versus outside terrain parks with a higher percentage of spine and head injuries inside terrain parks. Injury patterns also differ among age groups. Further research is needed to attempt to make skiing and snowboarding safer.