[Pattern of injuries in skateboard accidents]

In this study 101 patients who had sustained a total of 123 skateboard injuries and had been treated in the Department of Surgery at the Elisabeth-Krankenhaus in Essen between December 1989 and July 1991 were reviewed. The ages of the patients ranged between 6 and 22 years; most injuries were sustained between the ages of 12 and 17 years (67.3%). The upper extremity was injured in 50.4%. Lower extremity injuries occurred in 23.5%, head and face injuries in 22.7%, and chest injuries in 3.4%. The most common type of injury was a fracture (37.3%), most frequently to the wrist and forearm (56.5% of the fractures), followed by contusions (18.7%), lacerations (13.8%) and abrasions (10.6%). Of the 101 patients, 20 had to be hospitalized altogether 25 times, for an average duration of 7.3 days per person. The reasons for hospitalization were fractures in 18 patients, which had to be treated by open reduction and internal fixation in 7 cases and closed reduction in 14 cases. Concussion of the brain made hospitalization necessary for 2 cases.