A study of kitesurfing injuries

Interestingly a rate of 1 injury per ~100 hours of kitesurfing is estimated. I must be due an injury soon?

This study may underestimate the rate of injuries as its data from just 1 centre, but may over estimates their severity, as Royal Perth Hospital is the major trauma centre for WA.

Sorry for the long post, but i've included the whole article...

Kitesurfing is a relatively new water sport that converts wind energy into vertical and horizontal force using a large controllable kite. In optimal conditions, speeds of up to 65 km/h and heights of 20 m are reached.1,2 Impact at these speeds or from this height can lead to severe injuries or death,1 and such accidents have reinforced the image of kitesurfing as a highly dangerous and even reckless sport. Nonetheless, kitesurfing is rapidly gaining popularity and is among the fastest growing water sports worldwide.

1 To quantify frequency, injury profiles and severity of kitesurfing-related trauma, we reviewed all patients presenting to the emergency department of the Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia, with traumatic injuries received while kitesurfing between January 2000 and March 2014.

Injury severity was graded using the Injury Severity Score (ISS).3 There were 56 presentations (47 men and nine women), with patient ages ranging from 18 to 69 years (mean ± SD, 34.1 ± 11.7).

Forty-three patients were regarded as having minor trauma (ISS, 1–8), 12 moderate trauma (ISS, 9–15) and one major trauma (ISS ≥ 16).

The lower extremities, upper extremities and spine (13/56) were the most frequently injured body regions (Box). Soft tissue injuries and fractures were the most common injury type. Internal organ injuries involved a renal laceration, a hepatic laceration and an injury to the posterior tibial artery following an open fracture.

Neurological injuries involved brachial plexus injuries in two patients, and spinal injuries associated with spinal fractures in two patients. No paraplegias were observed. Of the 56 patients, 27 were hospitalised.

Injury mechanisms included loss of kite control (25/56), mainly from unexpected gusts of wind (16/25) and failed jumps (5/25) resulting in falls from a height; injury from equipment, mainly sharp or blunt trauma from kiteboards (16/56); and impact against objects (eg, rocks, sandbanks) (5/56).

One accident resulted from failure to detach after using the safety leash. The low frequency of kitesurfing trauma that we found (about four cases annually) is consistent with previous studies that reported five and three trauma cases in periods of 1 year and 7 months, respectively.2,4

Injury rates of between 5.9 and 12.2 injuries per 1000 kitesurfing hours have been estimated in non-competitive kitesurfing, which is comparable to recreational skiing and lower than many popular contact sports.

We found the lower extremities were most at risk, as in previous studies.1,5 Lower extremity and spinal fractures are the most common injuries in falls from a height; a common injury mechanism in kitesurfing.

Head and facial injuries were slightly less frequent in our study than in an earlier study.

This variability is likely attributable to the small sample sizes in both studies. Despite its image as a dangerous sport, serious kitesurfing accidents seem uncommon.

Severe injuries and deaths mostly result from unexpected gusts of wind causing impact against solid objects or falls from a height. Inability to release from the kite using the safety systems may also play a role.

A detailed study into injury mechanisms in kitesurfing may identify areas for prevention strategies and minimise injuries and fatalities in this rapidly growing water sport.

interesting

Some very interesting statistics given the "hard-core" nature of our sport. More often than not I hear people referring to kite surfing as an extreme sport. Admittedly the potential is there for catastrophic events to occur, and they do from time to time. Quite often I witness other kite surfers taking big risks (frequently I witness dangerous kite practices...like hot launching a kite near a road - but somehow rarely does it end badly). But that said the frequency and nature of injuries generally doesn't give me an indication that our sport is "extreme".

To make a comparison, I believe one of the most extreme sports going today is road bicycle riding (as a past road bike rider), I was involved with many accidents (some severe) and have had friends with stories of many more. The number of "close-calls" that I experienced on a daily basis made me eventually call it quits. Rarely a week goes by when there is an article in the paper of another fatality. I was recently reading that this year alone there has been 7 fatalities in the south west region of WA of cyclists.

My point is that cycling involves relying on other people (in mass ie. cars) to hope that they will do the right thing for you ie. provide space, see you, not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, respect the road rules....etc. Where with kiting, our biggest issue can come with a sudden change in weather patterns (as the statistics mentioned above...gusts combined with immovable objects). But generally these dangerous factors can be minimised by using common sense, practice and having an understanding of your surroundings. Apart from crowded kite spots (which I don't frequent) we don't need to rely on other people being in control of a much larger object that has a massive potential for causing death/injury (like a car).

Cycling is definitely "extreme" in nature given the fact that we need to share the road with people who may not share an understanding or want to respect another persons sport.

Give me kiting anyday. .

that assessment matches my experience, kiting is one of the safest sports i've done... i think the most injured i've gotten in 5 years of kiteboarding is: (a) dropping my board on my foot while walking to the car; (b) my mystic harness rubbing skin off my sides when not wearing a wetsuit/rashguard

but in a year of snowboarding i've broken my wrist

in 2 years of skating i fractured my hip, rolled my ankles countless times

in a year of surfing i've broken my nose, broken a toe, gotten a concussion

kiteboarding is pretty safe for me in comparison even though you can jump 10m off the water fairly easily

sure sprains strains lacerations getting dragged into obstacles whatever these are all treatable injuries except for the odd fatality. but what about the elephant in the room here fellas?!? isnt it time we talked about the multitude of injuries sustained everytime you see a kook holding in the bar when launching or another bucket hat wearer approaching you on the beach or even worse the injuries sustained from reading seabreeze or kiteforum the pain and anguish as 2 over 40 year olds discuss there session of riding back and forth with really fast aggressive carving turns. why in this day and age cant we discuss these injuries ENOUGH IS ENOUGH its 2016 GOD DAMNIT

Hi All

Kiteboarding Australia made a press release which seeks to set the records straight on what the actual research by the Royal Perth Hospital said:
- Less than 60 injuries presented at that hospital in the last fifteen years
- Comparitively low level of injury compared to contact sports; and
- Low levels of serious injury (only 4 in the time period).

With over 1000 regular kiters in Perth throughout at least the last 5 years, those seem like reasonable numbers without doing further research.

None of this means that kiting is an inherently "safe" sport and we should all be conscious of using the best gear (which is very safe compared to what it used to be like), kiting with friends and taking professional lessons.

You can read the press release here: eepurl.com/b0pZi1. We make these statements and get directly in contact with councils, transport authorities, parks and other stakeholders to advocate for keeping beach access for kiters the norm. Being proactive is important so that the message doesn't get confused by misreporting.

Good winds and safe kiteboarding!

Heaps of crew have been taken to Freo hospital over the years.

Given its location closer to the pond/woodies/leighton.