Severe injuries associated with skiing and snowboarding: A national trauma data bank study.

Background: Injuries following skiing and snowboarding accidents lead to an estimated 7,000 hospital admissions annually and present a significant burden to the health care system. The epidemiology, injury patterns, hospital resource utilization, and outcomes associated with these severe injuries need further characterization. Methods: The National Trauma Data Bank was queried for the period 2007-2014 for admissions with injury severity score (ISS) >15 and ICD-9 codes 885.3 (fall from skis, n=1,353) and 885.4 (fall from snowboard, n=1,216). Demographics, emergency department data, diagnosis and procedure codes, and outcomes were abstracted from the database. Results: Severe (ISS > 15) ski- and snowboard-associated injuries differed with respect to age distribution (median age [IQR]: 38 [19-59] for skiers and 20 [16-25] for snowboarders, p

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