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Paintball Dangers Doctors rescue teenagers after liver rupture
Paintball is a game that is becoming more and more popular nowadays. In this leisure fun, participants try to meet with so-called markers that shoot small paint balls. Despite the protective clothing you always hear from injuries. Now in England, a teenage boy was hospitalized who suffered a dangerous liver injury from a side shot.
In recent decades, there were always new leisure trends, one of which is the so-called paintball. In this sport, teams shoot at each other with small paintballs. Physicians from North Middlesex University Hospital have now published a report in the journal "BMJ Case Reports", which deals with the risk of injuring paintball.
Paintball is a tactical team sport. The participants try to mark themselves with paint balls. These are shot for it from special markers. (Image: tor1d / fotolia.com) What exactly is paintball??
Paintball is a tactical team sport in which players shoot at each other with paintballs using markers. The struck player must leave the field in most cases. The marker is a compressed air weapon, which usually uses the gas pressure to shoot small paint balls (painball or paint). These paint balls usually consist of a gelatin shell and are nowadays usually filled with colored polyethylene glycol.
Paintball can cause superficial vascular but also deep organ injuries
In recent years, one hears again and again of injuries that have arisen during so-called paintball. In England, a teenage boy was hospitalized who had previously suffered a liver rupture from a paintball hit. The doctors were forced to open the boy's stomach to stop the flow of blood and save his liver. Fortunately, the teenager survived the incident. Although the game is always presented as a harmless pastime, but how dangerous is paintball actually? Occurring injuries to the eyes are of course well recognized and then recorded. But there are also a growing number of cases in which superficial vascular and deep organ injuries have been documented, says the lead author. Joshua Luck from North Middlesex University Hospital. The doctor also explained that there had been surgery many times where injuries or damage to the kidneys, penis and scrotum had to be treated or corrected. The trigger for this, were hit by paintball balls. Participants and physicians should be better informed about possible dangers of the game.
With proper equipment, the risk of injury is very low
The paintball may be shot down in Germany with a maximum muzzle velocity of 214 fps (feet per second) or 234.818 km / h. Of course, hits at such high speeds are potentially harmful to the eyes, but organs can also be damaged, the authors explain. In 2001, for example, a 39-year-old father died of a hit on the head. This had led to a swelling of the brain, say the doctors. It is very important in paintball to wear the right equipment. Only then is it possible to protect the body from injury. Helmet, body protectors and goggles should always be worn. Applying the right protective equipment and following the safety regulations minimizes the risk of injury, explain the experts.
Under controlled conditions, injuries in paintball, according to the doctors are very rare. A survey of the Minnesota Paintball League in 2003 showed that only about 0.2 injuries per 1,000 players occur. By comparison, the value of football was already 2.4 injuries per 1,000 players. The majority of injuries in paintball caused by tripping or falling, not by hit with paint balls, say the doctors. Most injuries affect the feet, ankles and legs. It was found that people with eye injuries usually did not wear safety goggles, the doctors add. (As)