Background: A significant proportion of emergency department (ED) presentations are related to trampoline injuries. The aims of this study were to assess whether presentations to the ED as a result of a trampoline injury have an increased incidence of requiring intervention as opposed to other mechanisms of injury in children under 9 years old.
Materials and methods: Retrospective observational assessment of ED presentations of children under 9 years old recorded in the European Injuries Database (EU IDB) in 2014.
Results: Of a total of 28135 ED presentations, 4.4% (n=1257) were as a direct result of trampoline injuries. 38.6% (n=486) of these patients required further intervention (inpatient treatment/outpatient treatment/transfer to another facility) compared to other injury mechanisms such as sport (43.8%; 992/2263), falls from a height (28.3%; 5756/20363), park injuries (42.5%; 641/1507) and road traffic accidents (RTAs) (40.9%; 1124/2745). There was no statistically significant difference between trampoline injuries (38.6%) and road traffic accidents (40.9%), in terms of requiring further intervention (Fisher's exact test p=0.18).
Conclusion: Injuries from trampolines, although a small proportion of all injuries recorded, have a similar incidence of requiring intervention when compared to other, major, modes of injury such as RTAs in this age group - this information has implications for current public health policy and parental approval of this activity.
Keywords: athletic injuries; children; emergency departments; wounds and injuries.