Biomechanical analysis of the effectiveness of in-line skating wrist guards for preventing wrist fractures

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effectiveness of commercially available wrist guards in preventing wrist fractures. Forty arms were harvested from 20 cadaveric specimens. The forearms from each cadaver, one with a wrist guard and one without a wrist guard, were then fractured using an Instron Servohydraulic Material Testing System. The group of forearms tested to failure without wrist guards failed at an average force of 2245 N, while the group tested with wrist guards fractured at an average force of 2285 N, revealing no statistical difference. Similarly, observed fracture patterns were not noted to be different in the two groups. The in-line skating wrist guards tested were not effective in preventing wrist fractures under the experimental conditions of our study.