In a 20-year retrospective study, all skiers and snowboarders with a peroneal nerve injury at the fibular head treated surgically at the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, were included. Covering a period from 1999/2000 to 2018/2019.

All data were gained in a clinical routine context, and the study design was retrospective. The work was approved by the local ethics committee of the Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria (EK Nr.: 1300/2019). We reviewed medical charts from over a 20-year period, including all patients with a PNI after a ski- or snowboard-related accident requiring surgical intervention at the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery of the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria.

We analyzed the demographical data, including age, gender, and citizenship, as well as included variables concerning the winter sport activity (i.e., ski or snowboard, owned or rented, self-inflicted without collision or collision caused by another skier or snowboarder, professional or recreational athlete). We also analyzed the injury itself (i.e., PNI as main injury, open or closed, motoric, sensible or both, fracture, muscle injury, complete or incomplete transection), as well as the treatment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Skiers and snowboarders
• treated with a peroneal nerve injury at the fibular head
• time frame January 1999 to Dicember 2019

Exclusion Criteria:

• Different injury mechanism
• injury of a different nerve than peroneal nerve

All patients who suffered a peroneal nerve injury caused by the sharp edge of a ski or snowboard and required surgical intervention.