Skeletal injuries following unintentional fall from height

Background: Falls from height are one of the leading causes of death from unintentional injuries.
Materials and methods: We reviewed cases of musculoskeletal trauma due to fall from height, over one year, at a tertiary care hospital in Delhi for demographic data, site of accident, circumstances and location of fall, approximate height of fall, season, landing surface, details of skeletal and other injuries and duration of hospital stay.
Results: Of 1451 admissions during the period, 138 were injured due to fall from height. Thirty seven cases were excluded. Mean age of patients was 31.3 years. The mean height of fall was 4.54 meters (range 0.6-12 meters). A total of 126 fractures occurred in 101 patients, 55 in the upper limbs, 50 in lower limbs, 14 in spine and seven in pelvis. Associated injuries included head (n=17), chest (n=9) and abdominal injuries (n=6). Ninety patients (89%) needed surgical intervention for fracture management. Eleven of these 101 (10.8%) injuries were fatal.
Conclusion: Fall from height is a potentially preventable cause of skeletal injuries as most of the injuries sustained due to fall from height were domestic injuries and occurred due to poor dwelling units.