Citation

Neill DF. Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. 2003; (409): 91-95.

Affiliation

New Hampshire Knee Center, PO Box 840, Ashland, NH 03217, USA. pso@cyberportal.net

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Springer)

DOI

10.1097/01.blo.0000057785.10364.dc

PMID

12671490

Abstract

In 1999, a study was done examining the injury risk and pattern in first time snowboarders versus first time skiers. Although these rates were similar, snowboarders sustained a higher percentage of injuries to the upper extremity, particularly wrist sprains and fractures. As an extension of this previous study, the protective value during snowboarding of an off-the-shelf wrist guard originally designed for inline skating was tested. Two thousand three hundred fifty-five first time snowboarders were evaluated at one northeastern ski resort. Five hundred fifty-one snowboarders wore wrist guards and a control group of more than 1800 snowboarders did not wear wrist guards. Forty wrist injuries were sustained in the control group (2.2%), compared with no injuries (0%) in the snowboarders who wore wrist guards. Importantly, there was no increase in more proximal or distal upper extremity injuries in the group of snowboarders who wore wrist guards.