Characteristics of injuries caused by paragliding accidents: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND This study was undertaken to analyze the characteristics and risk factors relating to fatalities and injuries caused by paragliding. METHODS The judicial examination reports and hospital documents of 82 patients traumatized in 64 accidents during 242 355 paragliding jumps between August 2004 and September 2011 were analyzed. RESULTS In these accidents, 18 of the 82 patients lost their lives. In the patients with a confirmed cause of accident, most of them were involved with multiple fractures and internal organ injuries (n=8, 44.4%). CONCLUSION We investigated the incidence of paragliding injuries, the types of the injuries, and the severity of affected anatomical regions. The findings are significant for the prevention of paragliding injuries and future research.