Docherty E, Hassan A, Burke D. Things that go bump . . . bump . . . bump: an analysis of injuries from falling down stairs in children based at Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Emerg Med J 2010; 27:207-208.
Methods:
Retrospective analysis of emergency department visits reporting falls down stairs.
Results:
- A total of 239 cases were found with patients aged 0 to 15 years.
- eight patients were admitted, but none needed neurosurgical intervention, and no head injuries were significant enough to require any kind of intervention.
- 7 percent of patients were reported to be dropped while being carried down stairs, all of which sustained injuries.
- A tibial fracture, two femur fractures, and five skull fractures were found in this group
- The most common injury is to the head, but these are typically minor.
- The severity of injury is not associated with the number of stairs, but patients reported to have been dropped should be closely evaluated.