US emergency department visits for fireworks injuries, 2006-2010.
BACKGROUND
Most literature regarding fireworks injuries are from outside the United States, whereas US-based reports focus primarily on children and are based on datasets which cannot provide accurate estimates for subgroups of the US population.


METHODS
The 2006-2010 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample was used to identify patients with fireworks injury using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification external cause of injury code E923.0. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes were examined to determine the mechanism, type, and location of injury. Sampling weights were applied during analysis to obtain US population estimates.


RESULTS
There were 25,691 emergency department visits for fireworks-related injuries between 2006 and 2010. There was no consistent trend in annual injury rates during the 5-y period. The majority of visits (50.1%) were in patients aged <20 y. Most injuries were among males (76.4%) and were treated in hospitals in the Midwest and South (42.0% and 36.4%, respectively) than in the West and Northeast (13.3% and 8.3%, respectively) census regions. Fireworks-related injuries were most common in July (68.1%), followed by June (8.3%), January (6.6%), December (3.4%), and August (3.1%). The most common injuries (26.7%) were burns of the wrist, hand, and finger, followed by contusion or superficial injuries to the eye (10.3%), open wounds of the wrist, hand, and finger (6.5%), and burns of the eye (4.6%).


CONCLUSIONS
Emergency department visits for fireworks injuries are concentrated around major national holidays and are more prevalent in certain parts of the country and among young males. This suggests that targeted interventions may be effective in combating this public health problem.
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Electronic address: jcanner1@jhmi.edu.
Joseph K
JK
Canner
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Adil H
AH
Haider
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Shalini
S
Selvarajah
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Xuan
X
Hui
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Han
H
Wang
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
David T
DT
Efron
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Elliott R
ER
Haut
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Catherine G
CG
Velopulos
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Diane A
DA
Schwartz
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Albert
A
Chi
Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Eric B
EB
Schneider
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001753:Blast Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
Emergency department; Fireworks; Injury; NEDS