Finger Trauma Due to Surfing; A Case Series and Analysis of Fracture Patterns

The purpose of this study is to research the type of lesions to the hand and fingers in the sport of surfing.

All surfing related hand injuries reported to our hospital between January 2008 and September 2015 were analyzed.

Thirty-seven patient files held a clear description of a trauma related to the surf sport. We found three finger sprains, five wounds needing suture, including one digital nerve lesion and one ring finger with flexor tendon injury, three fingertip amputations and twenty-six digital fractures. The fracture type was similar in twenty-one patients: an open extra-articular transverse fracture of the distal phalanx. Thirty-one injuries were caused by the surf leash.

From this case series we can conclude that surfing may lead to significant trauma to the fingers, mainly due to the leash. This can be caused by grasping the leash while it snaps to tension, which may lead to hyper flexion of the distal phalanx, resulting in a typical trans-phalangeal fracture. Also, when the leash is wrapped around a finger or grasped near the attachment of the leash to the board, ring avulsion-like trauma may occur, leading to open fractures or (partial) amputations. Recognizing that surf leash trauma causes a particular type of fracture to the distal phalanx, may lead to better education of surfers and the development of safer surfing equipment.