The Doctor Said: No More Children Jumping On The Bed

Dante Pappano, MD, an attending physician in the Children'sEmergency Department at Golisano Children's Hospital at Strong,published a paper in August's Pediatric Emergency Care journal about acase of a Rochester boy who was injured when a wire snapped inside themattress and imbedded itself in his foot. Pappano said the 2002 injurysurprised him, so he did more research.

Pappano visited a local mattress manufacturer and two retailmattress stores. He gutted an old mattress from his own home andanother his mother-in-law planned to toss out. Eventually, hehypothesized that the wire was a piece from a long, straight wire thatheld the boy's mattress coils upright and hooked onto a frame at eitherend. Pappano said that type of construction is not common, and hebelieves it is generally found only in older, inexpensive mattresses.

Although the boy fully recovered, Pappano felt compelled topublish "Don't Jump on the Bed" for other emergency room physicians aswell as for parents. He said he had not expected the wire to be hookedon the end and found out only by taking an X-ray. Removing it meantmaking an incision; pulling it out would have done more damage. Hewanted other physicians to be aware that a wire injury from jumping ona bed could require the same treatment.

The wire injury does not seem to be common, but Pappano still warned against allowing children to jump on mattresses.

"If you have an older, cheap mattress, you'd be better off not jumping on it," he said.