Abstract
We analyzed 102 consecutive patients with blunt abdominal trauma in skiing and snowboarding from 1997 to 2002. Abdominal injury in snowboarders was twice that in skiers (68: 34). Falls and collisions were also higher in snowboarding than in jumping in skiing (17: 14: 3). Falls were most frequent and jumping was almost equal in snowboarding to collisions (38: 13: 12). The organs most frequently injured in skiing were the kidney, followed by the liver and spleen (13: 7: 4). Those most frequently injured in snowboarding were the kidney, followed by the spleen and liver (29: 13: 5). Kidney and spleen injuries were more frequent in snowboarding than in skiing. Of the 102 patients, 33 were free of apparent abdominal organ injury. Of 17 splenic injuries, 10 underwent splenectomies; of those, 9 were snowboarders. In both groups, 30% suffered severe complicated extraabdominal injuries including hemopneumothorax, fracture of vertebra or extremities, and brain injury. In short snowboarder were more susceptible than skiers to severe abdominal organ injury such as splenic rupture.
