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American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics, 6(130), p. 1076-1083, 2012

DOI: 10.1542/peds.2012-0473

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Pediatric Inflatable Bouncer-Related Injuries in the United States, 1990-2010

Journal article published in 2012 by Meghan C. Thompson ORCID, Thiphalak Chounthirath, Huiyun Xiang, Gary A. Smith
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate inflatable bouncer–related injuries to children in the United States. METHODS: Records were analyzed from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System for patients ≤17 years old treated in US emergency departments (EDs) for inflatable bouncer–related injuries from 1990 to 2010. RESULTS: An estimated 64 657 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 32 420–96 893) children ≤17 years of age with inflatable bouncer–related injuries were treated in US EDs from 1990 to 2010. From 1995 to 2010, there was a statistically significant 15-fold increase in the number and rate of these injuries, with an average annual rate of 5.28 injuries per 100 000 US children (95% CI: 2.62–7.95). The increase was more rapid during recent years, with the annual injury number and rate more than doubling between 2008 and 2010. In 2010, a total of 31 children per day were treated in US EDs for an inflatable bouncer–related injury, which equals a child every 46 minutes nationally. A majority of patients were male (54.6%), and the mean patient age was 7.50 years (95% CI: 7.17–7.83). Most injuries were fractures (27.5%) and strains or sprains (27.3%), and most injuries occurred to the lower (32.9%) or upper (29.7%) extremities. Most injuries occurred at a place of sports or recreation (43.7%) or at home (37.5%), and 3.4% of injured children were hospitalized or kept for <24 hours for observation. CONCLUSIONS: The number and rate of pediatric inflatable bouncer–related injuries have increased rapidly in recent years. This increase, along with similarities to trampoline-related injuries, underscores the need for guidelines for safer bouncer usage and improvements in bouncer design to prevent these injuries among children.