Evaluation of primary caregivers' perceptions on home trampoline use

Paediatric playground and tree-related injuries: Hospital admissions in the Midland region of New Zealand

AIM

To examine the incidence and outcomes of paediatric playground and tree-related injuries in the Midland region of New Zealand.

METHODS

A retrospective review of Midland Trauma Registry hospitalisation data between January 2012 and December 2018 was undertaken. Cases included children aged 0-14 years hospitalised for playground and tree-related injuries. Demographic and event information, injury severity and hospital-related outcomes were examined.

RESULTS

Playground and tree-related hospitalisations (n = 1941) occurred with an age-standardised rate of 144.3/100 000 (confidence interval (CI) 127.3-161.3) and increased 1.4% (CI 1.3-4.2%) annually. The highest incidence was observed in 5-9-year olds (248.8/100 000) with 0-4 and 10-14-year olds at 86.0 and 89.2/100 000, respectively. Injuries most commonly occurred at home, school or pre-school (77.1%), 93.7% were due to falls and, the upper extremity was the most frequently injured body region (69.9%), particularly due to forearm (55.6%) and upper arm (34.7%) fractures. Tree-related incidents comprised 11.6% of all injuries and explained 57.1% of injuries classified as major severity. Fifty-eight percent of children were hospitalised for 1 day and 97.0% for less than 5 days. Estimated hospital costs were NZ$1.2 million annually with a median of NZ$3898 per incident. Injuries classified as minor severity accounted for 86.5% of the total estimated cost.

CONCLUSION

Children aged 5-9 years' experience high rates of costly hospitalisation for playground and tree-related injuries. Targeted injury prevention initiatives, particularly in the home and school environments, are imperative to reduce the incidence and burden of playground and tree-related injuries to affected children, their families and hospital resources.

[Characterisation of the impact and features of trampoline park-related injuries]

INTRODUCTION

 Numerous studies have described indoor trampoline park (ITP)-related injury patterns, but they have shown heterogeneous results. No such study has been performed in Germany to date. The aim of this study was to analyse the specific trampoline-related injury patterns found in our population.

METHODS

 This retrospective study included patients suffering from ITP-related injuries between 1 October 2016 and 30 April 2018. 258 patients were included in the analysis. Patients were categorised depending on different variables including age, sex, site of injury, diagnosis, length of admission and treatment using SPSS.

RESULTS

 In the 19-month study period, 258 patients with ITP-related injuries were recruited. Single ITP-related injuries were diagnosed in 250 (96.9 %) patients. The median age of this group was 22 years (IQR 15-28). 126 (50.4 %) injuries were suffered by men and 124 (49.6 %) by women. 168 (67.2 %) injuries occurred in the lower extremity. Sprains (n = 114, 45.6 %) and fractures without joint dislocation (n = 59, 23.6 %) were the most common diagnoses. Males suffered significantly more often from injuries of the upper extremity (26.2 vs. 9.7 %; p = 0.010), while females most commonly suffered from injuries of the lower extremity (79.8 vs. 54.8 %; p < 0.001). 45 (18 %) patients required hospital admission and twenty-five (10.0 %) patients required surgery. Eight (3.1 %) patients suffered from injuries in more than one anatomic location.

CONCLUSIONS

 ITP-related injuries were more prevalent in adults compared with children. The lower limb was the most affected anatomic location in all ages. The pattern of the injuries was heterogeneous, and their respective treatment represents a major challenge for traumatology surgeons.