Orthopedic injuries due to parachute jumping in soldiers and the effect of trauma scoring systems in determining injury level:  A prospective observational study

Background: During parachute jumping in soldiers, minör or life-threatining majör injuries may be occur in various parts of the body. Various trauma scoring systems have been developed to determine the severity of these injuries. The aim of this study is to determine orthopedic injuries and other injuries due to parachute jumping for military training who admitted to ED and the severity of their injuries using by anatomical and physiological trauma scores (AIS and ISS), to examine applied treatment methods, their hospitalization conditions and the length of hospital stay prospectively over a 44-month period between January 2016 and August 2019. Methods 200 military personnel were included in the study, between the ages of 18-52, who were injured as a result of daytime static parachute jumping for military training. Demographic data such as age, gender, ISS trauma region classification, anatomical injury sites, AIS and ISS scores, diagnosis, treatment methods applied, hospitalization status and duration of hospitalization were examined prospectively in a total of 185 patients. Results Among 184 individuals included in the study, 184 were male and 1 was female. The most common injured body site were 33.5% foot. and the most common diagnosis was 64.3% soft tissue trauma. Considering the treatment methods applied, 51.4% was determined as medication cold application, 42.7% as splint plaster, and 5.9% as surgery. The mean ISS of the patients was 5.16 ± 3.92. The hospitalization rate of patients with a critical AIS score was significantly higher than those with a severe AIS score (p <0.001). Conclusions The use of trauma scoring systems in determining the severity of injury to patients who come to ED due to parachute injury may facilitate treatment selection. Key words: Parachuting injuries, Abbreviated Injury Scale ve Injury Severity Score