Most Surfing Injury Doesn't Usually Require Surgery

Most injuries related to surfing occur in the shoulder or knee, which don't usually require surgery, reports a new study.

Most surfing injuries involve the shoulder or knee and surgery are typically not necessary, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach.

Over the last few years, surfing has increased in popularity, with about 2.6 million recreational surfers in the United States. Efforts are underway to include competitive surfing in the Olympics. However, the number of reports on surfing-related injuries is limited and does not mirror the trend in popularity, according to researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS).

Surfing Board Shorts are Bad for Health: Here�s Why
Are surfing board shorts safe? Harmful chemicals used in surfing board shorts to make it water-proof are often not needed, as they may cause a wide range of health problems.

‘Joints injured most commonly during surfing are shoulder and knees, and most of the injuries are treated non-operatively.’

Harry "Tate" Greditzer, MD, a radiologist at HSS and avid surfer himself, launched a study to determine the kinds of orthopedic injuries a recreational surfer might sustain and how often he or she required surgery. "The primary purpose of the study was to characterize MRI patterns of acute surfing-related injury at HSS, an urban musculoskeletal hospital," Dr. Greditzer said. "Secondarily, the purpose was to report the proportion of those injuries that required orthopedic surgical intervention."

Dr. Greditzer and colleagues found that shoulder injuries were the most common, followed by knee injuries. In the study, 17% of patients needed surgery for any type of surfing injury. The research was published online in the journal Sports Health on November 5.

The investigators noted that previous surfing studies from different regions of the world had described the incidence of injuries along with the type, location, and severity, but the results have been highly variable. Most prior studies have also utilized imaging modalities that are readily available in an emergency setting but did not focus on high-resolution soft tissue imaging modalities such as MRI, as in the HSS study.

US Employee Spends Time Surfing the Net After Outsourcing Job to Chinese Company
An employee of a US infrastructure company had outsourced his job to a Chinese company, and spent his days surfing the Internet at his workplace.

HSS investigators conducted a retrospective review of medical records to identify patients with surfing-related injuries who came to HSS for treatment between January 1, 2009, and August 1, 2018. The researchers analyzed the data and reported on the body part injured diagnosis and surgical versus nonsurgical treatment.

The search yielded 109 patients with surfing-related injuries who had MRIs. A total of 90 patients came to HSS within six months of their injury and were included in the final analysis. The median age was 36, with patients ranging in age from 12 to 66. Three-quarters of the patients were male.

Surfing Paradise In France Takes A Hit After A Shark Attack Kills A Teenager
The 13-year-old Elio Canestri, one of Reunion's most promising young surfers, was killed after he ignored an official ban and hit the waves with friends.

Acute surfing injuries were diagnosed with an MRI in 72% of study patients. The following injuries were reported:

Shoulder: 46% of surfing injuries
Knee: 28%
Foot or ankle: 9%
Spine: 6%
Elbow: 6%
Other (rib fracture; muscle strain or muscle laceration): 5%

"Although prior studies have shown that injuries related to surfing are primarily found in the head or lower extremities, our study found upper extremity injuries to be more common," said Peter Fabricant, MD, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at HSS and study author. "The majority of upper extremity injuries occurred at the shoulder with anterior shoulder dislocation being the most common diagnosis. Of the presenting knee injuries, a torn medial collateral ligament was the most frequent."

Surfing Takes Off in Liberia
As the monstrous wave rears up behind him like a frothing beast, Sam Brown Jr allows himself a grin and a thumbs-up as he snaps onto his longboard

Only 17% of all the surfing injuries required surgery at HSS. This percentage may overestimate the number of surfing injuries in general that require surgery, the study authors noted. Tertiary care referral centers such as HSS tend to see a greater proportion of serious injuries requiring surgery.

The study authors noted that the overall diagnostic quality provided by MRI helps to elucidate the most serious soft tissue surfing injuries. However, the exclusive use of this imaging modality for diagnosis was a limitation of the study, as it would not account for other musculoskeletal surfing injuries that do not require an MRI.

"When compared to other extreme sports, surfing seems relatively safe," said Dr. Greditzer. "However, it’s important to keep in mind that our study looked at recreational surfers. We did not include professional surfers, so the patients in our study were not able to generate as much speed, get barreled, or launch into the air like a professional or amateur can, where the potential for injury is much higher."

Dr. Greditzer, who has been surfing for more than 20 years, commented on injury prevention for beginning surfers. He says being a good swimmer is the most important attribute for anyone thinking of taking up the sport. He also recommends that beginners take a few lessons to learn the basics and use a soft foam surfboard to start.

Source-Eurekalert