BackgroundCases of trauma resulting from the use of mobile phones while driving motor vehicles have become quite common in recent years. Road injuries incurred by people playing video games on mobile phones (or other media devices) while walking have also become a cause for concern. Pokémon Go has been the world's most popular game since it was launched in July 2016, with more than 15 million players trying to catch all Pokémon available in the game; however, the case detailed here is the first reported accident in the medical literature caused by a pedestrian distracted by the game while crossing a street.ObjectiveWe aim to provide additional information on the innovative nature of distractions that generate risks in road-users, and to explore the underreporting of pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions due to mobile device usage.MethodsWe included in this case report a 25-year-old male who suddenly crossed a road while playing Pokémon Go and was hit by a van, reporting several injuries and being assisted by the Emergency Medical Service of our hospital (Padova, Italy). The patient’s history, the circumstances in which the collision happened, imaging data, and clinical course information were recorded per our hospital’s privacy policy.ResultsThe patient hit by the van was playing Pokémon Go on his mobile phone while crossing a street, despite red traffic lights, which he did not notice due to of the distraction induced by the game.ConclusionsMobile videogames that imply movement (ie, walking, running, cycling) to play are an effective way to improve physical activity practice, especially in adolescents and young adults. Nevertheless, cases like the one presented here point out that these games could pose a significant risk to users who play while walking, cycling, or driving in unsafe areas such as city streets, because players become distracted and may ignore surrounding hazards. Comprehensive, multilevel interventions are needed to reduce accidents caused by distraction, and to stress findings on the positive and negative effects of video games, which are becoming a source of public health concern. Health care providers should be aware of their chief role in these possible prevention strategies, based on their direct interactions with road incident victims.

BackgroundNekNomination, also known as NekNominate, Neck and Nominate, or Neck Nomination, is a social network–based drinking game which is thought to have originated in Australia and spread all over the world between 2013 and 2014. Individuals record videos of themselves while rapidly drinking excessive quantities of alcoholic drinks (necking) and then nominate friends to outdo them within 24 hours; the videos are then posted on social media such as Facebook or YouTube. The consequences of this drinking game have been very dangerous; at least 5 people under age 30 years have died after drinking deadly cocktails, and many others have suffered from alcohol intoxication.ObjectiveThe goal of the research is to evaluate data about clinically important acute alcohol intoxication among teenagers and young adults and inform and educate the general public, especially parents, teachers, and health workers, about the spreading craze of dangerous Internet-related behavior among today’s teenagers and young people up to the age of 23 years.MethodsPatients aged 15 to 23 years with acute alcohol intoxication who came to the emergency department (ED) of 2 major hospitals in Italy from January 1, 2011, to June 30, 2014, were included in this study. Data were retrieved from prehospital and intrahospital medical records and included personal information, methods of intoxication, triage color code, date and time of access to the ED, any relevant signs and symptoms, blood alcohol concentration, and diagnosis at discharge.ResultsA total of 450 young patients (male 277/450, 61.5%, female 173/450, 38.5%; age 15 to 16 years 15/450, 3.3%, age 17 to 18 years 184/450, 40.9%, age 19 to 23 years 251/450, 55.8%) were recruited. The causes of intoxication were happy hour, binge drinking, NekNominate, eyeballing, other alcoholic games, or a mix of them. Happy hour was found to be more common among the older patients, whereas NekNominate accounted for almost half of the youngest group of hospitalizations. Eyeballing occurred in 1.6% (7/450) of cases; binge drinking and other alcoholic games caused 23.3% (105/450) and 23.8% (107/450) of hospitalizations, respectively. On admission, 44.2% (199/450) of patients were assigned a red or yellow color code requiring immediate medical attention; about 14% of them required additional medical assistance (after being in the ED) or hospitalization, some in semi-intensive care units.ConclusionsOur study shows that the increased numbers of hospitalizations due to alcohol intoxication in the adolescent age group, as a consequence of NekNominate or other drinking games, is alarming and represents a serious public health issue. The potential markers of improper use of social networks must be clearly identified, including categories at risk of alcohol abuse, in order to develop intervention and prevention strategies in terms of education and awareness, which may help in averting potentially fatal episodes.

BackgroundThe monitoring and management of risks regarding children and young people admitted to the emergency department as a result of dangerous behaviors distributed via the Internet should be based on clinical reasoning and knowledge about these social media–related phenomena. Here we examine 2 cases of teenagers who reported severe injuries while performing the “planking” craze, a challenge that consists in lying face-down stiffly like a board on any kind of surface.ObjectiveOur objective is to examine and describe the Internet craze called planking, also known as the “lying-down game,“ through 2 case reports from our experience, enriching this study with information gained through discussions with secondary school teenagers.MethodsDetails of the 2 case reports were taken from electronic medical records giving information on care support processes, care management, and the costs of traumatic episodes. Demographic data, hemoglobin and serum lactate values, and Injury Severity Scores were evaluated. The study took place in secondary schools of our city from 2013 to 2014 during medical education courses, with the aim of analyzing the influence of social media on teenagers' activities and behaviors.ResultsBoth patients suffered multiple trauma injuries and needed high-level health assistance. The first patient underwent a splenectomy and the second one a nephrectomy; both of them required a long hospital stay (14 and 20 days, respectively), and the costs for their management have been estimated at US $27,000 and US $37,000, respectively. Their decision to perform the planking in dangerous locations was due to their ambition to gain peers' acclaim through shared videos and pictures.ConclusionsReporting and understanding these cases may potentially help prevent future events occurring in similar circumstances: the scientific community cannot leave this problem unaddressed. There is also a role of education resources for health care professionals; for this, we must identify and follow up strange or misleading information found on websites. A key element of this research study was to report physicians’ misperceptions concerning planking and, with these cases used for teaching purposes, improve knowledge of the clinical and forensic aspects of this emerging problem.

Background The links between the internet and teenager behavior are difficult situations to control and may lead to the development of new and excessive methods of drinking alcohol during alcoholic games. Findings indicate that reported cases are very useful sources for better understanding of alcoholic games, yielding successful measures promoting health among adolescents. Admittance of adolescents to hospital emergency departments (EDs) after consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol has become the norm in developed countries. The harmful effects of acute alcohol abuse are reported in this paper. Objective The aim of this work was to investigate the close connections between new drinking behaviors among adolescents and study the increase in new alcoholic games, together with the challenges that cause acute alcohol intoxication, the influence of the internet and social networks, and their consequences for public health services. Methods Data came from prehospital and intrahospital admissions attributable to alcohol consumption. From 2013 to 2015, 3742 patients were admitted to EDs due to acute alcohol intoxication: 830 of them were aged 15 to 30 years, and 225 were adolescents and young adults between 15 and 20 years who had been playing alcoholic games. Retrospectively, diagnostic data associated with extrahospital anamneses were selected by one of the hospital management information systems, Qlik. As a result of our previous experience, questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were performed at a later stage, when a clinical audit for intoxicated adolescent patients was described, with the overall goal of establishing a potential methodological workflow and adding important information to research carried out so far. Results Between 2013 and 2015, 830 young patients aged 15 to 30 years were admitted to EDs for acute alcohol intoxication. About 20% (166/830) of the sample confirmed that they had drunk more than 5 alcoholic units within 2 hours twice during the past 30 days as a result of binge drinking. Referring to new alcoholic games, 41% of the sample stated that they knew what neknomination is and also that at least one of their friends had accepted this challenge, describing symptoms such as vomiting, headache, altered behavior, increased talkativeness, and sociability. The median value of the weighted average cost of the diagnosis-related group relating to interventions provided by hospitals was the same for both genders, €46,091 (US $56,497; minimum €17,349 and maximum €46,091). Conclusions Drinking games encourage young people to consume large quantities of alcohol within a short period of time putting them at risk of alcohol poisoning, which can potentially lead to accidental injuries, unsafe sex, suicide, sexual assault, and traffic accidents. The spread of these games through the internet and social networks is becoming a serious health problem facing physicians and...

BACKGROUND The links between the internet and teenager behavior are difficult situations to control and may lead to the development of new and excessive methods of drinking alcohol during alcoholic games. Findings indicate that reported cases are very useful sources for better understanding of alcoholic games, yielding successful measures promoting health among adolescents. Admittance of adolescents to hospital emergency departments (EDs) after consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol has become the norm in developed countries. The harmful effects of acute alcohol abuse are reported in this paper. OBJECTIVE The aim of this work was to investigate the close connections between new drinking behaviors among adolescents and study the increase in new alcoholic games, together with the challenges that cause acute alcohol intoxication, the influence of the internet and social networks, and their consequences for public health services. METHODS Data came from prehospital and intrahospital admissions attributable to alcohol consumption. From 2013 to 2015, 3742 patients were admitted to EDs due to acute alcohol intoxication: 830 of them were aged 15 to 30 years, and 225 were adolescents and young adults between 15 and 20 years who had been playing alcoholic games. Retrospectively, diagnostic data associated with extrahospital anamneses were selected by one of the hospital management information systems, Qlik. As a result of our previous experience, questionnaires and face-to-face interviews were performed at a later stage, when a clinical audit for intoxicated adolescent patients was described, with the overall goal of establishing a potential methodological workflow and adding important information to research carried out so far. RESULTS Between 2013 and 2015, 830 young patients aged 15 to 30 years were admitted to EDs for acute alcohol intoxication. About 20% (166/830) of the sample confirmed that they had drunk more than 5 alcoholic units within 2 hours twice during the past 30 days as a result of binge drinking. Referring to new alcoholic games, 41% of the sample stated that they knew what neknomination is and also that at least one of their friends had accepted this challenge, describing symptoms such as vomiting, headache, altered behavior, increased talkativeness, and sociability. The median value of the weighted average cost of the diagnosis-related group relating to interventions provided by hospitals was the same for both genders, €46,091 (US $56,497; minimum €17,349 and maximum €46,091). CONCLUSIONS Drinking games encourage young people to consume large quantities of alcohol within a short period of time putting them at risk of alcohol poisoning, which can potentially lead to accidental injuries, unsafe sex, suicide, sexual assault, and traffic accidents. The spread of these games through the internet and social networks is becoming a serious health problem facing physicians and medical professionals every day, especially in the ED; for this reason, it is necessary to be aware of the risks represented by such behaviors in order to recognize and identify preliminary symptoms and develop useful prevention programs. The strategic role of emergency services is to monitor and define the problem right from the start in order to control the epidemic, support planning, coordinate the delivery of assistance in the emergency phase, and provide medical education. Hospital-based interdisciplinary health care researchers collected specific data on hazardous drinking practices linked to evaluation of increased alcohol-related consequences and cases admitted to the ED.