APSA PaperEquestrian injuries in children
Section snippets
Methods
Approval for this study was obtained from the institutional review board. Both the hospital and pediatric surgery databases were queried for all pediatric patients seen at our institution over an 11-year period who were younger than 18 years and had sustained equestrian trauma (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code E828). All children were evaluated by the pediatric surgery or trauma surgery services. A retrospective review of the hospital and
Patient demographics
Over the 11-year period, there were 164 patient emergency department (ED) encounters. There were 135 girls and 29 boys with a median age of 12 years (range, 3-18 years). Most injuries (82%) occurred during recreational activities, whereas 12% of injuries were sustained during participation in competitive or supervised events such as barrel racing, jumping, rodeo, or riding lessons. The remaining injuries (6%) resulted after being kicked, trampled, or trapped under the animal. Of the 164
Discussion
Trauma remains the leading cause of death in children in the United States. Horseback riding is considered to be a dangerous activity, and our current experience confirms this belief. These large and unpredictable animals are able to reach speeds of 40 mph and can kick with 1 ton of force [6]. Therefore, in areas where equestrian-related sports and recreation is common, there is great need for safety education and prevention measures to reduce trauma associated with these activities. We
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Cited by (0)
Presented at the 39th annual meeting of the American Pediatric Surgical Association, Phoenix, AZ, May 27-June 1, 2008.