SalterHarris fractures in paediatric skiers and snowboarders

ABSTRACT

The incidence of paediatric fractures among winter sport athletes is not adequately studied. Our objective was to categorize fractures that occurred in paediatric skiers and snowboarders at a single ski resort. X-rays of 756 skiers/snowboarders aged 3–17 diagnosed with a fracture were categorized using the Salter-Harris (SH) classification. SH fractures were seen in 158 (21%) patients, with 123 (77%) being Type II. There were no significant differences between patients with a SH fracture and patients with a non-SH fracture for age, sex, snowboarding or skiing, mechanism of injury, terrain or the resort conditions on the day of injury. The most common mechanism of injury was falling onto snow while collisions resulted in more severe injuries. Compared to fractures without growth plate involvement, a higher proportion of SH fractures were seen in the humerus, radius, fibula and thumb; a lower proportion of SH fractures were observed at the tibia and clavicle.

KEYWORDS:

• Salter-Harris fractures
• Ski
• snowboard
• paediatric
• physis

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Denver Health Winter Park Medical Center and all team members involved in data collection and interpretation.

Disclosure statement

All authors of this paper report no relevant financial disclosures or conflict of interest. Unrelated to the study, Dr. Howell has received research support from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (R03HD094560, R01HD108133), the National Institute of Neurological Disorders And Stroke (R01NS100952, R43NS108823), the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (1R13AR080451), MINDSOURCE Brain Injury Network, the Tai Foundation and the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (UL1 TR002535‐05) and he serves on the Scientific/Medical Advisory Board of Synaptek, LLC. Unrelated to the study, Dr. Pierpoint has received research support from the International Olympic Committee Medical and Scientific Department.

Data availability statement

There are no data available for distribution.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [R03HD094560, R01HD108133]; International Olympic Committee National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases [1R13AR080451]; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke [R01NS100952, R43NS108823]; Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute [UL1 TR002535‐05]; MINDSOURCE Brain Injury Network Tai Foundation Scientific/Medical Advisory Board of Synaptek, LLC