[Pattern and risk of injuries of profile athletes in snow boarding]

During winter 1994/95 and 1995/96 a retrospective study was carried out in which datasets supported by questionnaires from 31 female and 64 male professional snowboarders were evaluated. Included were personal data and details of other types of sports. Also the personal style preferred and equipment used was integrated. Particularly of interest were the localization and causes of injury-patterns with the degrees of severity and overexertion disorders. Among the professionals the most frequent injuries occurred in the metacarpals and fingers (37.3%), the shoulder (36.0%), knee joints (33.3%) and the ankles (28%). The predominating pattern of severe joint injuries were capsular/ligament lesions and fractures. Overexertion syndromes in the knee were predominant, followed by thigh and ankle-joint strains. In the alpine group the incidence of injuries and strains, the knee was the most frequent. 75 professionals suffered 195 traumas. In relation to 1000 snowboarding hours, the risk of injury among the professionals is 0.8. Self induced injuries were mostly cause of misjudgement in specific situations (40.1%).