Incidence and severity of paediatric sledding injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we observed an increase in sledding injuries resulting in paediatric emergency department (PED) visits. We sought to describe the potential impact of the pandemic on the incidence and severity of sledding injuries in children.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive, retrospective cohort study of children with sledding injuries presenting to the PED in a tertiary care centre. We compared injuries occurring before and after the start of the pandemic, using March 11, 2020 as a cut-off. Children aged 0 to 17 years presenting with sledding injuries were eligible for inclusion. We compared monthly visit counts of sledding injuries, demographics, site and type of injury, disposition, surgical intervention, return visits, and length of inpatient admissions.

Results: In total, 243 visits for sledding injuries were analysed. There were 13 presentations in 2018, 31 in 2019, 30 in 2020, 105 in 2021, and 64 in 2022. The mean age was 8.6 years (standard deviation 3.7), with 53.5% of injuries occurring in males. Head injuries and sprains/strains were the most common site and type of injury, respectively (n = 103, 41.4%). There was a significant increase in the number of sledding injuries between pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 years (P = 0.048). There were no significant differences in demographic and injury characteristics.

Conclusions: We identified a significant increase in PED visits for sledding injuries during the pandemic. Examining epidemiological trends of sledding injuries can facilitate advocacy for improved communication of injury prevention recommendations in the event of future infectious disease outbreaks.