Analysis of patients with bodyboarding injuries transported by physician-staffed emergency helicopter

CONTEXT: There have been no reports that have studied the characteristics specific to bodyboard injuries. AIMS: To clarify characteristics to bodyboard injuries. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A retrospective medical chart review. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A medical chart review was retrospectively performed for all patients with spinal cord injuries transported via physician-staffed emergency helicopters between January 2009 and October 2013. The subjects were divided into two groups based on whether they had a spinal cord injury induced by bodyboarding (Bodyboard group, n = 14) or not (Control group, n = 14). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Using a χ(2)-test, Mann-Whitney U-test and non-paired Student's t-test. RESULTS: All but one of the subjects had spinal canal stenosis. The age of the patients in the Bodyboard group was younger than that of the Control group. The ratio of males and Glasgow Coma Scale of the Bodyboard group were higher than those on the Control group. The spinal cord injury induced by bodyboarding typically occurred after impacts of the head or face with the sea bottom while the subject was being buffeted by the waves. The severity of the spinal cord injury in the Bodyboard group was lower than that in the Control group. CONCLUSION: Bodyboarding tended to induce spinal cord injuries after the head or face collided with the sea bottom, and was more common in middle-aged males during the summer season, and was associated with a favorable outcome.