Abstract

Each year several children die as a result of baseball impact to the chest. This review describes the circumstances of 24 deaths from 1973 to 1983 and suggests the development of approaches to prevent and better treat the injuries. These approaches include the development of both an experimental animal model that mimics the physiologic mechanism of death from chest impact and the use of test dummies to evaluate the effectiveness of sport equipment in minimizing impact forces. Both of these developments would contribute to a reduction of the injury risks in children hit by a baseball. This review also examines the possible role of current cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedures in the outcome of the 24 recorded deaths and suggests possible changes to resuscitation protocols, particularly the use of the precordial thump. Verf.-Referat