2024-02-09 15:13:24
February 9, 2024
“Sledding is helmeted or nothing, and on developed terrain! » This warning comes from Dr Guillaume Mortamet, pediatric resuscitator at Grenoble University Hospital, who notes that sledding holds the highest number of accidents to the head. The progression of serious trauma linked to sledding accidents among children is worrying.
In 2020, in France, 130,000 accidents were recorded during the winter sports season, with 5% requiring hospitalization. In 2022, the pediatric emergency services at Grenoble University Hospital treated 650 children. 450 were able to return home, while 200 had to be admitted to hospital. Sledding accidents represent a significant proportion of these serious accidents, and are the main cause of head injuries.
Having fun sledding, winter sports, or on the slope in the garage below your home is not without risk. “In children, trauma linked to winter sports is essentially benign,” reassures Dr Guillaume Mortamet (pediatric intensive care unit, Grenoble-Alpes University Hospital). This should not obscure the serious accident rate, which has increased due to the measures taken during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as the shutdown of ski lifts. “The transfer of mountain activities to sledding then had the direct consequence of an increase in serious accidents,” he explains. The specialist confirms on the one hand that this seemingly harmless little sled is a major source of head trauma in children, most often following an impact with an element of the environment (trees, fence, road, etc.), and, on the other hand, on the other hand, that studies show that sledding accidents are increasing. From being old-fashioned, sledding has become “fashionable” and even technical.
Sledding, a major cause of head and facial trauma
The study in which Dr Mortamet participated, from the TRENAU group of the Northern French Alp Trauma System, mapped the areas of severe injuries in 186 children under 15 years old according to the winter sport practiced. For skiing, the injured areas are quite varied, including head trauma (51%), thoracic (18%, including small pneumothorax, pulmonary contusions, vertebral collapse) and abdominal (30%, including liver fractures, spleen, kidney). Abdominal trauma is primarily associated with snowboarding. Regarding sledding, accidents mainly affect the head (62%), thorax/abdomen (27%), with a lesser incidence on the lower limbs (13%).
Skiing, snowboarding or sledding… Never without a helmet
Compared to skiing/snowboarding, sledding accidents affected younger children, most of whom were not wearing helmets. Concerning benign trauma in children, the WINTRAUMA study, based on the Winter Sports Accident Observatory in France, had recently estimated, in nearly 11,000 children with an average age of 11.4 years , that skiing accounted for nearly 70% of minor accidents, with snowboarding contributing to 24% (mainly among adolescents and boys). Wearing a helmet was only observed in 46% of cases, particularly when skiing. Among child skiers, 47.1% suffered from lower extremity injuries, such as knee sprains and fractures.
In this study, lesions accounted for 42.3% of trauma to the skull and face, as well as the trunk in children involved in sledding accidents. “Winter sports can cause serious injuries in children, reminds dr. Mortamet.. Sledding accidents affect younger children who might benefit from wearing protective equipment. »
Source: Follow-up of an intervention at the congress of the French Society of Pediatrics 2023 (Mountain Traumatology Session) presented by Dr Guillaume Mortamet (pediatric intensive care unit, Grenoble-Alpes University Hospital); Maisonneuve E, et al. Northern French Alp Trauma System TRENAU group. Epidemiology of severe pediatric trauma following winter sport accidents. Acta Paediatr. 2020 Oct;109(10):2125-2130.
Written by: Hélène Joubert – Edited by Emmanuel Ducreuzet
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