Childhood lawn dart injuries. Summary of 75 patients and patient report
Sotiropoulos, S.V.; Jackson, M.A.; Tremblay, G.F.; Burry, V.F.; Olson, L.C.
American Journal of Diseases of Children 144(9): 980-982
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-922X PMID: 2396629 Document Number: 361672
Lawn dart injuries account for an estimated 675 emergency department visits per year. Seventy-six patients are described herein. The victims ranged from 1 to 18 years of age and were predominantly male (male to female ratio to 3.1:1). The most common sites of injury were head (54%), eye (17%), and face (11%). Hospitalization was required for 54% (41/76) of these patients. Sequelae included unilateral blindness and brain damage. The case fatality rate was 4%. The extent of a head injury was not always clinically apparent at the initial presentation and should be promptly defined by computed tomogrpahic scan. Despite the recent ban on the sale of lawn darts, there remain an estimated 10 to 15 million sets of lawn darts in the homes of Americans. Pediatricians should encourage parents to discard all lawn darts.