Road Cycling causes more serious injuries than Mountain Biking. A prospective study and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Purpose The number of cyclists and cycling crashes have increased in the last years around the world. Road Cycling and Mountain Bike are probably the most frequent practiced styles. The main purpose of our study was to analyze the severity of the injuries related to these two disciplines. Furthermore, we evaluated the frequency and the risk factors associated to these two sports within the broad category of cycling. Methods We performed a prospective study including 149 injured Road or Mountain Bike cyclists that we received to our Emergency Trauma Department between the period of November 2020 and October 2021. We analyzed the severity of the lesions by using the Injury Severity Score (ISS). Other associated variables like mechanism of the injury, use of helmet, alcohol or drugs consumption and the experience of the cyclist were also evaluated. Results We observed significant higher values on the ISS score and less frequency of the injuries in the Road Cycling group compared to the Mountain Bike one (67,1% vs 32,9% respectively). We also found a relation between the age of the cyclist and the severity of the injury. Older patients suffered more serious lesions. Conclusion Road Cycling crashes were less frequent than Mountain Bike ones but provided more risk of serious injuries. Older cyclist had more risk to suffer severe lesions.