Water park injuries.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to identify water park injuries, particularly injuries related to waterslides.


METHODS
This prospective observational study was carried out between May 2005 and September 2006 in a university hospital emergency clinic, which has 50,000 annual visits. The study form, including patient demographics, types and mechanisms of injuries and the final diagnoses, was completed for all patients. A total of 73 patients were enrolled into the study. The mean age of the patients was 23.92+/-15.05 and 48 patients (65.8%) were male.


RESULTS
The mechanisms of injury were as follows: 23 patients (31.5%) were injured on waterslides, 16 (21.9%) were injured in pools and 34 (46.6%) were injured by slipping and falling on the wet surfaces. After the emergency department evaluations, 15 patients (20.5%) were diagnosed to have spinal trauma, 16 (21.9%) head trauma, 15 (20.5%) maxillofacial trauma, and 30 (41%) other injuries.


CONCLUSIONS
In water park injuries, while children have especially head and maxillofacial trauma, extremity and spinal injuries are more frequent in the adult group. Unless sufficient and required safety precautions are maintained during water park activities, fatal injuries may occur.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey. ssoyuncu@akdeniz.edu.tr
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D000058:Accidental Falls; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000293:injuries*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013551:Swimming Pools; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014867:Water; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
D014867:Water