Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med (2009) 2:25–29 DOI 10.1007/s12178-008-9040-5 Snowboarding injuries: a review of the literature and an analysis of the potential use of portable ultrasound for mountainside diagnostics M. R. Nowak Æ A. W. Kirkpatrick Æ J. A. Bouffard Æ D. Amponsah Æ S. A. Dulchavsky Published online: 7 January 2009 The Author(s) 2008. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract Snowboarding has become a popular recrea- tional and professional sport. Participants suffer a variety of injuries, especially of the extremities, that require medical evaluation. This article reviews the reported inju- ries to both leisure and elite athletes. To many, an injured extremity requires travel to a medical facility for accurate evaluation. Musculoskeletal ultrasound is an accurate and portable technology that can be used for real time, moun- tainside diagnoses of these injuries. Keywords Mountainside ultrasound Remote guidance ultrasound Snowboarding injuries Diagnostic ultrasound Mountainside diagnostics M. R. Nowak (&) Departments of Emergency Medicine and Surgery, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA e-mail: mnowak2@hfhs.org A. W. Kirkpatrick Regional Trauma Services, Foothills Medical Center, Calgary, AB, Canada J. A. Bouffard Department of Radiology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA D. Amponsah Department of Emergency Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA S. A. Dulchavsky Department of Surgery, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA Introduction Snowboarding has experienced a tremendous growth as a sport over the years. The National Sporting Goods Asso- ciation reported 6.6 million snowboarders participating in this sport in 2004. To-date there has not been a careful overall review of the medical literature to summarize the injuries sustained by these individuals. Snowboarding is physically demanding and is often conducted in a chal- lenging physical environment such that the risks of serious injury or even death are real. Reviews of snowboarding injuries from around the world have demonstrated head, abdominal, spinal, and extremity trauma to be the most frequent serious, and occasionally fatal, injuries sustained [1–4]. Fortunately, most snow-boarding injuries are not life-threatening, but when a professional or leisure snow- boarder suffers a potential traumatic injury, it can be extremely challenging for a non-physician on-mountain care-provider to make the correct diagnosis. This is because of the limited medical knowledge of the mountain patrol or sports trainers and the lack of radiological imaging support. Often the snowboarder must be trans- ported to a local hospital or to a specialty clinic for additional medical assessments [5]. Generally, conditions in which snowboarders are injured preclude the ability to quickly assess injuries using imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), CAT scans, and even plain radiographs. As many snow- boarding facilities are located in relatively remote locations, an initial accurate diagnostic assessment would be critical to maximize the recovery of a patient. For example, in the case of an individual who suffers a potential joint injury of unknown severity, the decision must be made to apply ﬁrst aid principles (the application of cold and elevation to the affected area, anti-inﬂammatory medications, and rest for a