[Pattern of injuries and risk of injury in skateboarding]

After the first big wave in the late seventies skateboarding is facing a revival as a leisure sport nowadays. 63 Skateboarders with a mean age of 18.1 years were personally interview with a survey form. 148 injuries with a resulting sport break of at least one week were registered. Sprains (36.5%), bruises (24.3%), fractures (18.2%) and lacerations of the skin (12.8%) were the most common injuries. 86.5% were injuries of the extremities almost equally distributed among the upper and lower limbs. Most fractures happened to the upper limbs (81.5%) mainly distal of the elbow joint. Sprains were mainly located at the lower limbs (70.4%) especially at the ankle joint as the most vulnerable part of the body (26.4% of all injuries). 101 injuries (68.2%) were treated by physicians. The resulting risk of injury was one injury per athlete and 1000 hours of exposure time. A higher acceptance of prophylactic measures could minimize the risk of injury. Parallels to inline skating and snowboarding can be shown.