Ski and Snowboard Injury from 1991 to 1996 in Shiozawa Ski Clinic

摘要

Skiing is one of the most popular winter sports in Japan. Over ten million skiers (people X day) visited the ski resort in Minami-uonuma area (Niigata prefecture) in one ski season, and about ten thousand of ski injuries occurred annualy. Therefore we stablished a ski clinic in Minami-uonuma in 1991. We present here an analysis of 8,093 consecutive injuries treated at our clinic during 1991～1996 ski seasons. Fracture, dislocation and contusion ratios were higher in the 1996 season than in the 1991 season. Most injured snowboard riders are novices. The pattern and distributions of injury caused by snowboarding and skiing are distinctly different. Upper limb and trunk injuries are more common in snowboarding. We found more fractures, dislocations and contusion in snowboarding as compared to alpine skiing. In Japan there were 15 deaths among snowboarding in 1995. Because of the increased number of serious accidents, snowboarding injuries require careful triage and initial evaluation.