balconing

The term “balconing” refers to the practice of jumping from hotel balconies or roofs to swimming pools, or between hotel balconies. This activity is performed by young vacationists in certain European touristic locations, and it is perceived as a recreational practice. The activity generates a small but constant flow of patients with fall-related severe brain and systemic injuries.

The Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol ,Badalona , Spain. is a reference hospital for severe trauma in a geographic zone where “balconing” activity takes place. They have retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients sustaining “balconing”-related injuries. Salient features regarding epidemiology, neurosurgical injuries, systemic injuries, and outcome are described. With this series of cases, they aim to present “balconing” as a cause of traumatic brain injury and polytrauma in a defined population, and to express the concern this group of patients generate 1).


1)
Pérez-Bovet J, Lorencio C, Taché A, Pujol Valverde P, Martín Ferrer S. Traumatic brain injury caused by “balconing”. Br J Neurosurg. 2014 Aug 27:1-5. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 25162559.
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  • Last modified: 2025/05/13 02:08
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