Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Apr 18, 2020; 11(4): 243-251
Published online Apr 18, 2020. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v11.i4.243
Kitesurf injury trauma evaluation study: A prospective cohort study evaluating kitesurf injuries
Christiaan JA van Bergen, Rik IK Weber, Tim Kraal, Gino MMJ Kerkhoffs, Daniël Haverkamp
Christiaan JA van Bergen, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Amphia Hospital, Breda 4818 CK, the Netherlands
Christiaan JA van Bergen, Gino MMJ Kerkhoffs, Academic Center for Evidence based Sports Medicine, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, the Netherlands
Rik IK Weber, Department of Sports Medicine, University Medical Center, Utrecht 3584 CX, the Netherlands
Tim Kraal, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Spaarne Hospital, Hoofddorp 2134 TM, the Netherlands
Gino MMJ Kerkhoffs, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, the Netherlands
Daniël Haverkamp, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Xpert Clinic, Amsterdam 1103 TB, the Netherlands
Author contributions: van Bergen CJA, Weber RIK and Kraal T are kitesurfers, analyzed the data and wrote the paper; Weber RIK, Kraal T and Haverkamp D designed and performed the study; Kerkhoffs GMMJ and Haverkamp D commented on the drafts.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Slotervaartziekenhuis and Reade Institutional Review Board.
Clinical trial registration statement: This study was not registered in a clinical trial registration.
Informed consent statement: All involved persons gave their informed consent prior to study inclusion.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to report.
Data sharing statement: There is no additional data available.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement. The manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement as far as possible because the study is not a randomized controlled trial.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Christiaan JA van Bergen, MD, PhD, Surgeon, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Amphia Hospital, Molengracht 21, Breda 4818 CK, the Netherlands. cvanbergen@amphia.nl
Received: December 18, 2019
Peer-review started: December 18, 2019
First decision: January 6, 2020
Revised: March 14, 2020
Accepted: March 26, 2020
Article in press: March 26, 2020
Published online: April 18, 2020
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Kitesurfing is an increasingly popular and potentially dangerous extreme water sport. We hypothesized that kitesurfing has a higher injury rate than other (contact) sports and that the minority of injuries are severe.

AIM

To investigate the incidence and epidemiology of kitesurfing injuries in a Dutch cohort during a complete kitesurfing season.

METHODS

Injury data of 194 kitesurfers of various skill levels, riding styles and age were surveyed prospectively during a full kitesurf season. The participants were recruited through the Dutch national kitesurf association, social media, local websites and kitesurf schools. Participants completed digital questionnaires monthly. The amount of time kitesurfing was registered along with all sustained injuries. If an injury was reported, an additional questionnaire explored the type of injury, injury location, severity and the circumstances under which the injury occurred.

RESULTS

The mean age of participants was 31 years (range, 13-59) and the majority of the study population was male (74.2%). A total of 177 injuries were sustained during 16816 kitesurf hours. The calculated injury rate was 10.5 injuries per 1000 h of kitesurfing. The most common injuries were cuts and abrasions (25.4%), followed by contusions (19.8%), joint sprains (17.5%) and muscle sprains (10.2%). The foot and ankle were the most common site of injury (31.8%), followed by the knee (14.1%) and hand and wrist (10.2%). Most injuries were reported to occur during a trick or jump. Although the majority of injuries were mild, severe injuries like an anterior cruciate ligament tear, a lumbar spine fracture, a bimalleolar ankle fracture and an eardrum rupture were reported.

CONCLUSION

The injury rate of kitesurfing is in the range of other popular (contact) sports. Most injuries are relatively mild, although kitesurfing has the potential to cause serious injuries.

Keywords: Kite boarding, Water sports, Sports medicine, Injuries, Epidemiology, Extreme sports

Core tip: Kitesurfing is an increasingly popular extreme water sports with the potential to cause serious injuries. This paper presents a unique prospective cohort study investigating injuries during a complete kitesurf season. An injury rate of 10.5 per 1000 h of kitesurfing was found. Most of the injuries associated with kitesurfing are relatively mild, although kitesurfing causes severe injuries as well. Furthermore, it was shown that the foot and ankle are the most injured body parts. The outcomes of this study may provide clues for prevention.