Trampoline-related injuries
Larson, B.J.; Davis, J.W.
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. American Volume 77(8): 1174-1178
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-9355 PMID: 7642661 Document Number: 446994
Two hundred and seventeen patients who had sustained an injury during the recreational use of a trampoline were managed in the emergency room of Logan Regional Hospital in Logan, Utah, from January 1991 through December 1992. We retrospectively reviewed the charts and radiographs of these patients to categorize the injuries. Additional details regarding the injuries of seventy-two patients (33 per cent) were obtained by means of a telephone interview with use of a questionnaire. The injuries occurred from February through November, with the peak incidence in July. The patients were eighteen months to forty-five years old (average, ten years old); ninety-four patients (43 per cent) were rive to nine years old. Eighty-four patients (39 per cent) sustained a fracture; fifty-four (25 per cent), a sprain or strain; forty-five (21 per cent), or back; thirteen (6 per cent), the shoulder or arm; and nine 4 per cent the wrist or hand. Thirteen patients (6 per cent) had a back injury, but none of them had a permanent neurological deficit. One patient who had an ocular injury was transferred to a tertiary care center. One hundred and fifty-six patients (72 per cent) were evaluated radiographically, fifteen (7 per cent) were admitted to the hospital, and thirteen (6 per cent) had an operation. Although severe and life-threatening injuries were rare, the estimated average cost of the emergency-room visits, radiographs, stays in the hospital, and operations was 673 per patient. On the basis of the patterns of the injuries and the results of the telephone survey, our recommendations for reducing the number of trampoline-related injuries are to place padding on the bars and springs, to limit the number of participants on the trampoline to one at a time, to place the trampoline in a hole so that the jumping surface is at ground level, to avoid somersaults and other high-risk maneuvers, to comply with the manufacturer's instructions, and to allow children to use the trampoline only with parental supervision.