Alaimo Domenic F, Sharif Nishita T, Carciumaru Redjana, Scott Stephanie C, Kam April J
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Paediatr Child Health. 2024 Dec 31;30(3):171-175. doi: 10.1093/pch/pxae098. eCollection 2025 Jun.
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we observed an increase in sledding injuries resulting in paediatric emergency department (PED) visits. We sought to describe the potential impact of the pandemic on the incidence and severity of sledding injuries in children.
We conducted a descriptive, retrospective cohort study of children with sledding injuries presenting to the PED in a tertiary care centre. We compared injuries occurring before and after the start of the pandemic, using March 11, 2020 as a cut-off. Children aged 0 to 17 years presenting with sledding injuries were eligible for inclusion. We compared monthly visit counts of sledding injuries, demographics, site and type of injury, disposition, surgical intervention, return visits, and length of inpatient admissions.
In total, 243 visits for sledding injuries were analysed. There were 13 presentations in 2018, 31 in 2019, 30 in 2020, 105 in 2021, and 64 in 2022. The mean age was 8.6 years (standard deviation 3.7), with 53.5% of injuries occurring in males. Head injuries and sprains/strains were the most common site and type of injury, respectively (n = 103, 41.4%). There was a significant increase in the number of sledding injuries between pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 years (P = 0.048). There were no significant differences in demographic and injury characteristics.
We identified a significant increase in PED visits for sledding injuries during the pandemic. Examining epidemiological trends of sledding injuries can facilitate advocacy for improved communication of injury prevention recommendations in the event of future infectious disease outbreaks.
在2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间，我们观察到雪橇伤导致儿科急诊科（PED）就诊人数增加。我们试图描述大流行对儿童雪橇伤发病率和严重程度的潜在影响。
我们对一家三级护理中心儿科急诊科收治的雪橇伤儿童进行了一项描述性回顾性队列研究。我们以2020年3月11日为界，比较大流行开始前后发生的损伤情况。0至17岁出现雪橇伤的儿童符合纳入标准。我们比较了雪橇伤的每月就诊次数、人口统计学特征、损伤部位和类型、处置方式、手术干预、复诊情况以及住院时间。
共分析了243例雪橇伤就诊病例。2018年有13例，2019年有31例，2020年有30例，2021年有105例，2022年有64例。平均年龄为8.6岁（标准差3.7），53.5%的损伤发生在男性。头部损伤和扭伤/拉伤分别是最常见的损伤部位和类型（n = 103，41.4%）。COVID-19之前和COVID-19期间雪橇伤的数量有显著增加（P = 0.048）。人口统计学和损伤特征方面无显著差异。
我们发现大流行期间儿科急诊科因雪橇伤就诊的人数显著增加。研究雪橇伤的流行病学趋势有助于在未来传染病爆发时更好地宣传预防损伤建议。
