Epidemiology of Fractures Sustained During Electric Scooter Accidents

Abstract

Background: The use of electric scooters (e-scooters) has dramatically increased as they become an attractive alternative for public transportation in busy metropolitan areas worldwide. Despite their benefits, e-scooters challenge the health-care system with poorly understood forms of injuries, mainly orthopaedic fractures. To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate e-scooter-related orthopaedic fracture patterns, mechanisms of injury, and management.Methods: Data on 3,331 e-scooter-related admissions were retrospectively collected between May 2017 and February 2020 in a level-I trauma center. These admissions were analyzed for demographic variables, orthopaedic fracture diagnosis (using the AO/OTA classification), associated injuries, and surgical treatment.Results: During the study period, a total of 716 fractures were diagnosed in 563 patients, with 46.4% of the patients requiring hospitalization. Of 492 upper-limb fractures, 89.2% occurred in a rider fall mechanism; and of 210 lower-limb fractures, 15.7% occurred in rider-vehicle collisions. Fifty-nine percent of long bone fractures were complex fragmentary and/or intra-articular fractures. Orthopaedic surgeons recommended that 225 fractures undergo surgical treatment. The most common upper-limb fracture was AO/OTA class 2R1A, with open reduction and internal fixation of the distal part of the radius being the most common upper-limb procedure (n = 58). The most common lower-limb fracture was AO/OTA class 41C, with open reduction and internal fixation of the proximal part of the tibia being the most common procedure (n = 28). A total of 22 patients (3.9%) required reoperation within 1 year. Conclusions:This investigation provides unique information on demographic characteristics, patterns, and treatment of orthopaedic fractures secondary to the high-energy mechanism of e-scooter injuries. These new in-depth data are important, first, for health-care system preparedness with regard to management and resource allocation to treat these challenging injuries and, second, for legislators promoting safety and injury prevention strategies.T he introduction of electric scooters (e-scooters) and the e-scooter rideshare services have revolutionized commuting throughout the world 1,2 . These low-cost and environmentally friendly vehicles have become an attractive alternative for public transportation 3 , despite the fact that their configuration does not offer protection to the rider, leading to high rates of injuries 4 .The first e-scooter rideshare service was introduced in Israel in August 2018 5 . Several other companies quickly followed, increasing to thousands of e-scooters available throughout the cities 6 . In 2019, a year after the rideshare launch, our center's surrounding metropolitan area had the highest per-capita rate of shared e-scooter users worldwide, with approximately 7.5% of commuters using rideshare services on a daily basis 7 . Per company policy, no official driving permit is required, but riders should be at least 18 years of age and ...

Risk assessment, consequences, and epidemiology of electric scooter accidents admitted to an emergency department: a prospective observational study

“…The gender distribution is comparable with other studies, with about two-thirds (69.4%) of the individuals being male [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 10 , 13 , 14 ]. Rented E-scooters were more frequently involved in accidents than privately owned scooters.…”

Alcohol intoxication and lack of helmet use are common in electric scooter-related traumatic brain injuries: a consecutive patient series from a tertiary university hospital

“…Although the long-term effects were not assessed in our study, previous results show that young patients can be vulnerable to long-term difficulties due to a lack of coping skills [ 5 ]. Both upper and lower extremity fractures requiring operative treatment are reported in ES-related accidents [ 8 , 24 , 29 ]. In our cohort, the low incidence of upper extremity fractures may indicate that these patients may not have been able to react to the sudden fall or collision.…”

Characteristics and costs of electric scooter injuries in Helsinki: a retrospective cohort study

“…However, more severe injuries requiring intensive care or even fatality have been reported. [6,[9][10][11][12] There has been a rising number of publications on e-scooter injuries in recent years. However, most studies focus solely on a single category of injuries [13,14] or cases from a single hospital [9].…”

“…[6,[9][10][11][12] There has been a rising number of publications on e-scooter injuries in recent years. However, most studies focus solely on a single category of injuries [13,14] or cases from a single hospital [9]. To our knowledge, the incidence of accidents in proportion to e-scooter usage has been estimated only by Bekhit et al [7].…”