title: Equestrian injuries: a five-year review.
abstract: A retrospective chart review was conducted to define the demographic and injury patterns of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). The setting is a rural/small urban tertiary care center with approximately 40,000 visits per year. All patients presenting to the ED from January 1986 through December 1990 with equestrian-related injuries were enrolled in the study. Measurements included age, sex, mechanism of injury, injury or injuries diagnosed, admission to the hospital, morbidity, and mortality. A total of 142 patients met the inclusion criteria. The majority of injuries occurred when the patient fell from a horse. There were also a large number of injuries associated with handling the horse. Most injuries were minor, but 15% required hospital admission. There were no deaths. In conclusion, equestrian activities are associated with a risk of serious injury to both riders and handlers of horses. Education of both the public and primary care physicians should focus on injury prevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Scott & White Clinic, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, College of Medicine, Temple.
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Hobbs
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Yealy
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rivas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006736:Horses; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology