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With a collective of 46 patients we show the details and kinds of accidents caused by paragliding. The base for the casuistry of the accidents was a questionnaire which was answered by most of the injured persons. These were questions about the theoretical and practical training, the course of the flight during the different phases, and the subjective point of view of the course of the accident. The patterns of the injuries showed a high incidence of injuries of the spinal column and high risks for the ankles. At the end, we give some advice how to prevent these accidents.

186 lower leg torsional fractures treated via percutaneous cerclage wiring (Götze's method) yielded good to very good final results. There were no intraoperative complications such as lesions of the vessels and nerves. The number of refractures (1.61%), the incidence of delayed healing (4.3%), infections (3.23%) and misalignments (6.9%) are all comparable with data that can be found in the literature. No pseudoarthroses were seen. Besides low rate of complications and the rapidity of the procedure, the simplicity and low cost of the required instrumentarium are also very attractive. The fact that the patients remain in the hospital for a short while only, is yet another contribution to keeping the cost of general health care low in these times of exploding expenditure for medical attendance.