Pediatric trauma caused by personal watercraft: a ten-year retrospective

Evidence indicates that young adults are at significant risk for powered personal watercraft (PWC)-related injuries. This article examines the nature of PWC injuries sustained in the pediatric population over a 10-year period.Retrospective analysis was conducted of trauma registry charts on 66 pediatric patients, aged 5 to 19 years, hospitalized for PWC-related injuries between 1990 and 1999. The keywords PWC and Jet Ski were used to extract anonymous data from the National Pediatric Trauma Registry, which then were analyzed using descriptive statistics.The most common mechanism of injury was a collision with another PWC, a boat, or a fixed object (70%). A total of 55.1% of all the injury diagnoses involved the head, face, and/or neck, and 72.7% of the injuries occurred to the operator of the PWC. A total of 83.3% of the patients required at least 1 surgical procedure, and 42.2% required admission to the intensive care unit. Four children (6.1%) died, and 28 (42.4%) of the children had disabilities as a consequence of the injury.Operation of PWCs can result in severe injures, death, and long-term disability in the pediatric population. Possible safety recommendations include minimum age regulations, operator training, operating regulations, design improvements, and required helmet use.