No abstract

We present certain characteristics of 1,000 consecutive patients who attended an Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) with an injury sustained as a result of sport. The majority of injuries occurred as a result of football. Sports injuries had a higher requirement of X-ray than general trauma patients. A minority were treated at the site of injury. A fifth of patients required no treatment or a simple dressing. Commonest treatment was a support bandage. Only 2% required immediate in-patient treatment. Those affected by sports injuries tend to be young and of working age and may lose work time as a result of their injuries and therefore appropriate treatment is justified.

No abstract

We present the results of a postal survey on the outcome of sports injuries treated in an Accident and Emergency Department which shows that this is unsuitable for assessing their outcome. There are, however, some points of interest relating to associated morbidity and satisfaction with treatment in the Accident and Emergency Department.