Sledding Accidents at a Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center Between 2006 and 2016

Sledding is not a risk-free winter sport. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were an estimated 13,954 sledding accidents requiring medical care in 2010. However, specific information concerning pediatric injuries related to sledding is not well defined.

This study aimed to identify the most common types of injuries associated with sledding accidents and demographic factors related to risk of injury in pediatric patients, and to compare injuries associated with 2 different age groups and sexes.

This is a retrospective descriptive study of pediatric patients (<18 years of age) presenting to a regional level I pediatric trauma center secondary to a sledding injury between 2006 and 2016. Demographic information including sex, age, mechanism of injury, and injury severity score was captured and analyzed using descriptive statistics.

There were 209 patients identified for 10 years. There were no mortalities. There were 85 patients with primary head injury, of which 82 (96.5%) were hospitalized and 33 (38.8%) required an intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Seventy-five patients primarily suffered from extremity injuries, of which 56 (74.6%) had lower extremity fractures requiring operative intervention. There was no difference in ICU or length of stay between younger children (0-11 years) and adolescents (12-18 years) or between male and female patients.

Childhood sledding can result in a variety of significant injuries requiring surgical intervention and hospitalization. Children pulled on sleds behind motorized vehicles are at higher risk for more severe injuries resulting in a higher rate of ICU admission.