Get down and boogie board - injuries due to poor board design

Between February 1998 and March 1999, doctors at hospitals serving beachside communities in Queensland treated three adolescents with severe injuries incurred while bodyboarding.

Dr Kelvin Choo and Dr Deborah Bailey, Department of Paediatrics, Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane, said that the three patients had a similar pattern of injury involving the upper abdomen.

All three were either dumped or thrown off balance by a wave while riding their bodyboards to shore.

Dr Bailey said one of the patients was hit from behind when the nose of his board was caught on the sea floor, driving one of the base corners of the board into his upper abdomen. His injuries were extensive.

The second patient was "dumped" by a wave onto a sandbank, causing his board to be driven against his upper abdomen. Following a computer tomography (CT) scan revealing a full laceration of the spleen, the patient needed three months active observation before further scans revealed healing of his injuries.

The third patient was thrown off balance by a wave while riding her bodyboard, causing severe abdominal pain. A laparotomy procedure revealed a large amount of blood in the peritoneal cavity as a result of a laceration to the liver. The patient was discharged four days after admission.

Lacerations make up a high proportion of injuries associated with conventional surfboarding, reflecting surfboard design and configuration (sharp nose, fins). Bodyboards have less sharp edges and a relatively softer consistency. Nevertheless, the two corners can potentially inflict significant blunt injuries.

Dr Bailey said that while blunt trauma would be expected to predominate in bodyboarding, serious abdominal bodyboarding mishaps have not previously been reported.

"We are unable to determine how commonly injuries occur, but, given the popularity of bodyboarding or boogie boarding, especially among children and adolescents, we suspect that this association may be under-reported," Dr Bailey said.

Although many bodyboarders are very skilled, and a professional circuit exists, bodyboarding is an activity in which most beachgoers can partake.

"The boards are readily available, and less skill and swimming ability is required to catch a wave than in conventional surfing," Dr Bailey said.

The authors stressed that bodyboarders, as well as medical attendants, need to be made aware of the potential for abdominal injuries during what most would consider a benign beachside activity.

"Altering the design of boards, by rounding off the base corners or increasing the pliability of the core material, might help prevent such injuries occurring,"

Dr Bailey said.

The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.

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