Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research
Published in: Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Review

Injuries in extreme sports

Authors: Lior Laver, Ioannis P. Pengas, Omer Mei-Dan

Published in: Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research | Issue 1/2017

Login to get access

Abstract

Extreme sports (ES) are usually pursued in remote locations with little or no access to medical care with the athlete competing against oneself or the forces of nature. They involve high speed, height, real or perceived danger, a high level of physical exertion, spectacular stunts, and heightened risk element or death.
Popularity for such sports has increased exponentially over the past two decades with dedicated TV channels, Internet sites, high-rating competitions, and high-profile sponsors drawing more participants.
Recent data suggest that the risk and severity of injury in some ES is unexpectedly high. Medical personnel treating the ES athlete need to be aware there are numerous differences which must be appreciated between the common traditional sports and this newly developing area. These relate to the temperament of the athletes themselves, the particular epidemiology of injury, the initial management following injury, treatment decisions, and rehabilitation.
The management of the injured extreme sports athlete is a challenge to surgeons and sports physicians. Appropriate safety gear is essential for protection from severe or fatal injuries as the margins for error in these sports are small.
The purpose of this review is to provide an epidemiologic overview of common injuries affecting the extreme athletes through a focus on a few of the most popular and exciting extreme sports.
Literature
1.
2.
Heggie TW, Heggie TM. The epidemiology of extreme hiking injuries in volcanic environments. In: Heggie TM, Caine DJ, editors. Epidemiology of injury in adventure and extreme sports, 58. 2012. p. 130–41. Med Sport Sci. Basel, Karger.CrossRef
3.
Heggie TW, Heggie TM. Saving tourists: the status of emergency medical services in California’s National Parks. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2009;7:19–24.CrossRefPubMed
4.
Mei-Dan O, Carmont MR (eds). Management of the extreme sports athlete. In: Adventure and extreme sports: epidemiology, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention. Introduction. Springer-Verlag; 2013. pp. 1–5.
5.
Brymer E, Schweitzer R. Extreme sports are good for your health: a phenomenological understanding of fear and anxiety in extreme sport. J Health Psych. 2012;18(4):447–87.
6.
Reiman PR, Augustine SJ, Chao D. The action sports athlete. Sports Med Update 2007: July 2-8
7.
Puchan H. Living ‘extreme’: adventure sports, media and commercialization. J Communication Management. 2004;9(2):171–8.CrossRef
8.
Heggie TW, Caine DJ, editors. Epidemiology of injury in adventure and extreme sports, vol. 58. 2012. p. 1–172. Med Sport Sci. Basel, Karger.CrossRef
9.
Brooks JH, Fuller CW, Kemp SP, et al. Epidemiology of injuries in English professional rugby union. Part 1: match injuries. Br J Sports Med. 2005;39(10):757–66.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
10.
Brooks JH, Fuller CW, Kemp SP, et al. Epidemiology of injuries in English professional rugby union. Part 2: training injuries. Br J Sports Med. 2005;39(10):767–75.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
11.
Riksinstruktören, 402:01 Grundläggande bestämmelser, in Swedish regulations for sport parachuting [SFF Bestämmelser Fallskärmsverksamhet; in Swedish]. Svenska Fallskärmsförbundet; 2011.
12.
International Parachuting Commission Technical and Safety Committee. Safety report 2009. In: IPC safety reports. McNulty L, editor. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale; 2010.
13.
Barrows TH, Mills TJ, Kassing SD. The epidemiology of skydiving injuries: world freefall convention, 2000–2001. J Emerg Med. 2005;28:63–8.CrossRefPubMed
14.
15.
Steinberg PJ. Injuries to Dutch sport parachutists. Br J Sports Med. 1988;22:25–30. 2006 safety report, technical and safety committee, International Parachuting Commission, FAI.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
16.
Westman A, Björnstig U. Fatalities in Swedish skydiving. Accid Anal Prev. 2005;37(6):1040–8. Epub 2005 Jul 21.CrossRefPubMed
17.
Paul S. The 2008 fatality summery – “back to the bad old days”. USPA Parachutist Mag. 2009;50(594):30–5.
18.
19.
Soreide K, Ellingsen L, Knutson V. How dangerous is BASE jumping? An analysis of adverse events in 20,850 jumps from Kjerag Massif, Norway. J Trauma. 2007;62:1113–7.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Monasterio E, Mei-Dan O. Risk and severity of injury in a population of BASE jumpers. NZMJ. 2008;121:1277.
21.
22.
Nelson NG, McKenzie LB. Rock climbing injuries treated in emergency departments in the US, 1990–2007. Am J Prev Med. 2009;37:195–200.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Schussmann LC, Lutz LJ, Shaw RR, Bohn CR. The epidemiology of mountaineering and rock climbing accidents. Wilderness Environ Med. 1990;1:235–48.CrossRef
24.
Schöffl VR, Schöffl I. Finger pain in rock climbers: reaching the right differential diagnosis and therapy. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2007;47:70–8.PubMed
25.
Neuhof A, Hennig FF, Schöffl I, Schöffl V. Injury risk evaluation in sport climbing. Int J Sports Med. 2011;32:794–800.CrossRefPubMed
26.
Schöffl V, Küpper T. Rope tangling injuries—how should a climber fall? Wilderness Environ Med. 2008;19:146–9.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Schöffl V, Morrison AB, Schwarz U, Schöffl I, Küpper T. Evaluation of injury and fatality risk in rock and ice climbing. Sports Med. 2010;40:657–79.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Kubiak EN, Klugman JA, Bosco JA. Hand injuries in rock climbers. Bull NYU Hosp Jt Dis. 2006;64:172–7.PubMed
29.
30.
Schöffl V, Hochholzer T, Winkelmann HP, Strecker W. Pulley injuries in rock climbers. Wilderness Environ Med. 2003;14:94–100.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Schöffl V, Hochholzer T, Winkelmann HP, Strecker W. Differential diagnosis of finger pain in sport climbers. Differentialdiagnose von Fingerschmerzen bei Sportkletterern D Z Sportmed. 2003;54:38–43.
32.
Schöffl V, Schöffl I, Schwarz U, Hennig F, Küpper T. Injury-risk evaluation in water ice climbing. Med Sport. 2009;2:32–8.
33.
Schöffl V, Morrison A, Schöffl I, Küpper T. Epidemiology of injury in mountaineering, rock and ice climbing. In: Caine D, Heggie T, editors. Medicine and sport science—epidemiology of injury in adventure and extreme sports. Basel: Karger; 2012.
34.
35.
Basnyat B, Lemaster J, Litch JA. Everest or bust: a cross sectional, epidemiological study of acute mountain sickness at 4243 meters in the Himalayas. Aviat Space Environ Med. 1999;70:867–73.PubMed
36.
Firth PG, Zheng H, Windsor JS, Sutherland AI, Imray CH, Moore GW, Semple JL, Roach RC, Salisbury RA. Mortality on Mount Everest, 1921–2006: descriptive study. BMJ. 2008;337:a2654.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
37.
Salisbury R. The Himalayan database: the expedition archives of Elizabeth Hawley. Golden: American Alpine Club; 2004.
38.
39.
40.
Lowdon B, Pateman N, Pitman A. Surfboard-riding injuries. Med J Aust. 1983;2:613–6.PubMed
41.
Taylor D, Bennett D, Carter M, Garewal D, Finch C. Acute injury and chronic disability resulting from surfboard riding. J Sci Med Sport. 2004;7(4):429–37.CrossRefPubMed
42.
43.
Nathanson A, Bird S, Dao L, Tam-Sing K. Competitive surfing injuries: a prospective study of surfing-related injuries among contest surfers. Am J Sports Med. 2007;35(1):113–7.CrossRefPubMed
44.
Allen RH, Eiseman B, Straehley CJ, Orloff BG. Surfing injuries at Waikiki. JAMA. 1977;237(7):668–70.CrossRefPubMed
45.
Taylor KS, Zoltan TB, Achar SA. Medical illnesses and injuries encountered during surfing. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2006;5(5):262–7.CrossRefPubMed
46.
47.
Mendes-Villanueva A, Bishop D. Physiological aspects of surfboarding riding performance. Sports Med. 2005;35(1):55–70.CrossRef
48.
Meir R, Lowdon R, Davie A. Estimated energy expenditure during recreational surfing. Aust J Sci Med Sport. 1991;23(4):70–4.
49.
Renneker M. Surfing: medical aspects of surfing. Phys Sportsmed. 1987;15(12):96–105.CrossRef
50.
Ekeland A, Rødven A. Skiing and boarding injuries on Norwegian slopes during the two winter seasons 2006/07 and 2007/08. Skiing Trauma and Safety 18th volume. ASTM STP. 2011;1525:139–49.
51.
Johnson R, Ettlinger C, Shealy J. Update on injury trends in alpine skiing. Skiing trauma and safety 17th volume. J ASTM Int. 2011;1510:11–22.CrossRef
52.
Ekeland A, Sulheim S, Rodven A. Injury rates and injury types in alpine skiing, telemarking and snowboarding. Skiing trauma and safety 15th volume. ASTM STP. 2005;1464:31–9.
53.
54.
Demirel M, Turhan E, Dereboy F, Akgun R, Ozturk A. Surgical treatment of skier’s thumb injuries: case report and review of the literature. Mt Sinai J Med. 2006;73(5):818–21.PubMed
55.
56.
Binet M. French prospective study evaluating the protective role of all kinds of wrist protectors for snowboarding. Presented at the 17th congress of The International Society for Skiing Safety 2007. Aviemore; 2007;31–39.
57.
Langran M, Selvaraj S. Increased injury risk among first-day skiers, snowboarders, and skiboarders. Am J Sports Med. 2004;32(1):96–103.CrossRefPubMed
58.
Yamakawa H, Murase S, Sakai H, Iwama T, Katada M, Niikawa S, et al. Spinal injuries in snowboarders: risk of jumping as an integral part of snowboarding. J Trauma. 2001;50(6):1101–5.CrossRefPubMed
59.
Wakahara K, Matsumoto K, Sumi H, Sumi Y, Shimizu K. Traumatic spinal cord injuries from snowboarding. Am J Sports Med. 2006;34(10):1670–4.CrossRefPubMed
60.
Koo DW, Fish WW. Spinal cord injury and snowboarding—the British Columbia experience. J Spinal Cord Med. 1999;22(4):246–51.CrossRefPubMed
61.
Florenes TW. Injury surveillance in World Cup skiing and snowboarding. MD Thesis. Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo; 2010.
62.
Florenes TW, Bere T, Nordsletten L, Heir S, Bahr R. Injuries among male and female World Cup alpine skiers. Br J Sports Med. 2009;43(13):973–8.CrossRefPubMed
63.
Florenes TW, Nordsletten L, Heir S, Bahr R. Injuries among World Cup ski and snowboard athletes. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2012;22(1):58–66.CrossRefPubMed
64.
65.
Sherry E, Clout L. Deaths associated with skiing in Australia: a 32-year study of cases from the Snowy Mountains. Med J Aust. 1988;149(11–12):615–8.PubMed
66.
Shealy J, Johnson R, Ettlinger C. On piste fatalities in recreational snow sports in the US. Skiing trauma and safety 16th volume. ASTM STP. 2006;1474:27–34.
67.
Cadman R. Eight nonavalanche snow-immersion deaths. A 6-year series from British Columbia ski areas. Physician Sportsmed. 1999;27(13):1–7.
68.
Cadman R. How to stay alive in deep powder snow. Physician Sportsmed. 1999;27(13):18–9.
69.
Langran M. Alpine skiing and snowboarding injuries. In: Adventure and extreme sports: epidemiology, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention. Introduction. Springer-Verlag; 2013. p. 37–7.
Metadata
Title
Injuries in extreme sports
Authors
Lior Laver
Ioannis P. Pengas
Omer Mei-Dan
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1749-799X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13018-017-0560-9

Other articles of this Issue 1/2017

Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research 1/2017 Go to the issue

Research article

Comparison of compressive forces caused by various cannulated cancellous screws used in arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis

Research article

Screening for potential genes associated with bone overgrowth after mid-shaft femur fracture in a rat model

Research article

Comparison of local infiltration analgesia and sciatic nerve block for pain control after total knee arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Research article

Effect of oxidative stress induced by intracranial iron overload on central pain after spinal cord injury

Research article

Comparison of distraction arthroplasty alone versus combined with arthroscopic microfracture in treatment of post-traumatic ankle arthritis

Research article

Fixation in slipped capital femoral epiphysis avoiding femoral-acetabular impingement