ABSTRACT

Despite the risk of injury, skiing is a very popular winter sport. Skiing injuries are rarely seen with comparison to other types of accidental injuries and are occasionally life-threatening.

We aimed both to determine clinical and demographic characteristics of patients who were admitted to the emergency department for ski-related injuries and to discuss skiing injury prevention strategies.

Medical records of patients, who were admitted to the emergency department for ski-related injuries between December, 2005 and March, 2006 were retrospectively reviewed.

The mean age of 69 patients who were enrolled into the study was 23.70 ± 9.79 years. Soft tissue injuries of the foot and ankle were seen in 43 (62.3%) patients and it was the most frequent injury. 7 (10.1%) patients had a lower leg fracture and 4 (5.8%) patients had shoulder dislocation. The mean age of patients with lower extremity fractures was 11.29±5.12 (range 7-22 years) years. Of 69 patients who were admitted to the emergency department for ski-related injuries, 66 (95.7%) patients were discharged and 3 (4.3%) patients were transferred to the orthopedics clinic. No mortality was observed.

We conclude that ski equipments which are fitted to the individual properly and a basic level of fitness with basic ski skills are enough in order to avoid having ski-related injuries.

Keywords: Emergency department, lower leg fracture, military hospital, skiing injuries, trauma