Pediatric neck injuries associated with trampoline use

Objective

Trampolines are popular among children, but trampoline injuries constitute a large number of emergency department visits. The purpose of this study was to determine how often neck injuries occur among children with trampoline-related injuries and to identify the mechanism of injury.

Methods

We analyzed the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database to characterize patient demographics, injury types, injury subsite, and emergency department disposition status associated with trampoline related neck injuries between 2012 and 2021 in the United States. We utilized NEISS code 89 (neck) and code 1233 (trampoline) for our query along and identified patients between 0 and 19 years.

Results

Of the 33,929 trampoline injuries, 1436 injuries involved the neck (4.2 %). The overall mean age was 8.0 ± 4.1 years and there were 17,728 (52 %) males and 16,201 (48 %) females in the group. Mean age of children with neck injuries was higher (9.2 ± 3.6 years) compared to children with other injuries (8.0 ± 4.1 years, P < .001). Males had a higher proportion of neck injuries compared to all injuries 800 (56 %) versus females 636 (44 %, P = .007). The most common neck injury was neck strain/sprain with 993 (69 % of neck injuries). The next most common diagnoses included neck contusions at 34 (2 %) and fractures at 20 (1 %). Children with neck injuries were more likely to be discharged prior to admission compared to other trampoline-related injuries (96 % versus 93 %, P < .001).

Conclusions

Neck strains/sprains are the most common type of pediatric trampoline-related neck injuries. Older children and males are more likely to have neck injuries while using the trampoline.