Are Backyard Waterslides as Dangerous as Public Waterslides: A Review of 1,823 Head and Neck Injuries.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics and compare the severity of head and neck injuries between public and backyard waterslides. This was a 20-year cross-sectional study of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Injuries from waterslides were included in this study if they involved the head, face, eyeball, mouth, neck, or ear. Patient and injury characteristics were compared by the type of waterslide using chi-squared and independent sample tests. A total of 1823 injury reports were identified (39.8% backyard waterslides and 60.2% public waterslides). The mean age at the time of injury was 13.2 years, and the majority of patients were white (74.2%) males (55.1%). The most common primary diagnoses were laceration (28.4%) and internal organ injury (27.2%). A greater proportion of backyard injuries involved the head (P < 0.01) and resulted in concussions (P < 0.01) or fractures (P = 0.04). The overall admission rate from the ED was 3.5%, and no fatalities were noted. There were no significant differences in admission rates between injuries from backyard and public slides. Fatal or serious head and neck injuries appear to be uncommon with waterslide injuries. Backyard waterslides pose a greater likelihood of cranial injury, and this may relate to differences in riding habits between public and private waterslides.