Characterization of More Than a Third of a Million Toy-Related Fractures

Abstract

Introduction:The toy industry has grown substantially over time, with billions of dollars of toys sold each year in the United States alone. Even after safety considerations, injuries can result. This study examined toyrelated fractures in the US Emergency Departments (ED). Methods: The 1999 to 2018 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission was examined data for fractures involving a toy-related injury. The incidence, trends, and anatomic locations for such fractures were assessed. Results: In total, 347,135 toy-related fractures were identified, of which 237,754 (68%) were in patients younger than 18 years, 182,516 (53%) were sustained by male subjects, and a 95% yearly incidence increase was observed over the years of the study. Anatomically, 37% were shoulder/arm/elbow, 24% wrist/hand/finger, 19% ankle/toe/foot, 10% leg/knee, 6% face/neck/head, and 4% trunk/pubic region. Discussion: Despite safety considerations with toy design, more than a third of toy-related fractures were seen in the ED, with a nearly doubling yearly incidence over the study period. This could be contributed to by increased production and prevalence of toys and/or rougher play and increased overall violence. These results are important not only for patient safety but also for orthopaedic surgeons, EDs, toy manufacturers, and policymakers.

Orthopaedic Injury Patterns Related to Ice Skating, Inline Skating, and Roller Skating: A 20-Year Epidemiologic Analysis

“…It reports yearly consumer-product-related injuries seen at a select national sample of more than 100 EDs, and has been used to examine a wide variety of consumer-product-related injuries. 7 , 13 …”

“…It reports yearly consumer-product-related injuries seen at a select national sample of more than 100 EDs, and has been used to examine a wide variety of consumer-product-related injuries. 7,13 The NEISS database includes a selection of cases, which are assigned a sample weight based on a validated scale. Thus, the cases in the dataset are designed to be extrapolated to numbers representative of the national population.…”