Head Injuries due to Ladder-related Falls

Abstract

We examined the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients who had fallen from ladders and statistically analyzed the prognostic factors, highlighting the impact of the coexistence of head injuries on their prognoses. The clinical records of patients who had experienced ladder-related falls who were admitted to the Advanced Emergency Medical Service Center at Kurume University Hospital between April 2013 and August 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 86 patients were enrolled. The mean patient age was 69.2 years, and 82 patients were male. The median fall height was 2.55 m. Sixty patients fell during non-professional use of the ladder. Forty-four patients experienced some type of head injury. Although the older patients had more frequent complications with head injuries, the height of the fall was not related statistically. The group of patients with head injuries exhibited trends of older age, lower Glasgow Coma Scale scores, higher Injury Severity Score, and poorer outcomes than those of the group of patients without head injuries. Multivariate analysis showed that head injury and non-professional use were independent risk factors for poor outcomes. Our results revealed that ladder-related falls with head injury can occur when older people are working at home, even if they have fallen from a low height. Especially when older men work with the ladder at home, local community-based education and guidance for the prevention of ladder-related fall injuries are needed.