In-line skaters' wrists at risk.

In-line skaters should not rely solely on wrist guards to protect them from injury, warns Frank B. Giacobetti, an orthopedic resident at Philadelphia's Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. While they can help protect against scrapes and abrasions, more serious injuries such as fractures still can occur.

Giacobetti studied 40 cadaver arms with and without wrist guards to determine how effective they were in protecting against wrist fractures. Each arm was placed in a hydraulic testing apparatus to simulate the pressure that occurs when an in-line skater falls on an outstretched arm. Radiographs, taken to identify the types of injuries that occurred after being placed in the testing system, revealed distal radius (wrist) fractures in 38 of the 40 cadaver arms. Two, with and without wrist guards, sustained proximal radial fractures.

"We found no significant difference in the types of fractures sustained in the arms with or without the wrist guards," he points...