Panamerican Journal of Trauma, Critical Care & Emergency Surgery

Register      Login

VOLUME 7 , ISSUE 1 ( January-April, 2018 ) > List of Articles

RESEARCH ARTICLE

It is Time to put the Lid on Traumatic Brain Injuries in Scooter Crashes

George D Garcia, Tara M Irani, Alejandro D Badilla, Casey J Allen, Chanyoung Lee, Degino A Capellan

Keywords : Crash, Epidural, Helmet, Scooter, Skull fracture, Subarachnoid, Subdural, Traumatic brain injury

Citation Information : Garcia GD, Irani TM, Badilla AD, Allen CJ, Lee C, Capellan DA. It is Time to put the Lid on Traumatic Brain Injuries in Scooter Crashes. Panam J Trauma Crit Care Emerg Surg 2018; 7 (1):72-76.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10030-1207

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 01-01-2017

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2018; The Author(s).


Abstract

Introduction: Rider education that stresses helmet usage has not reached the scooter population. The impression that scooters are a safe, low-speed means of transport often results in poor helmet compliance. However, severe head injuries are common in scooter crashes. We chose to evaluate whether helmet use in the scooter rider population is associated with a reduction of traumatic brain injury (TBI), skull, and c-spine injuries. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of our Level I trauma center registry was performed identifying all patients treated for scooter crash-related injuries from 2003 to 2015. Helmet data were collected from Emergency Medical Services, police, and hospital records. Statistical analysis was performed using ÷2, Mann–Whitney U-test, and z-test for proportions. Results: Of 1,006 scooter crash patients, 13.3% of patients wore helmets at the time of their crash. Their mean age was 34.2 ± 16 years with an 80% male population. The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in the unhelmeted group was nominally lower (13.11 ± 3.7) when compared with the helmeted group (13.92 ± 2.8). There were more TBIs (61.6%) in unhelmeted patients vs helmeted patients (36.6%; p < 0.0001). Of all helmeted patients, none presented with epidural hematomas, and helmeted patients suffered significantly fewer subdural hemorrhages, subarachnoid hemorrhages, and skull fractures when compared with unhelmeted patients (p = 0.008, p = 0.005, p < 0.0001 respectively). Mortality was 4.0% in the unhelmeted group and 1.5% in the helmeted group (p = 0.215), but this difference did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: Helmet use significantly lowers the risk of TBI in scooter crashes. Additional multicenter trials are needed to study a possible survival benefit associated with helmet use. Educational and community outreach programs are needed urgently to improve helmet use compliance among scooter riders in order to reduce the TBI incidence.


PDF Share
  1. La Torre G, Van Beeck E, Bertazzoni G, Ricciardi W. Head injury resulting from scooter accidents in Rome: differences before and after implementing a universal helmet law. Eur J Public Health 2007 Dec;17(6):607-611.
  2. Kyrychenko SY, McCartt AT. Florida's weakened motorcycle helmet law: effects on death rates in motorcycle crashes. Traffic Inj Prev 2006 Mar;7(1):55-60.
  3. Organization W.W.H. World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention: Summary; 2004.
  4. White D, Lang J, Russell G, Tetsworth K, Harvey K, Bellamy N. A comparison of injuries to moped/scooter and motorcycle riders in Queensland, Australia. Injury 2013;44(6):855-862.
  5. Kosola S, Salminen P, Laine T. Heading for a fall—moped and scooter accidents from 2002 to 2007. Scand J Surg 2009; 98(3):175-179.
  6. Ganti L, Bodhit AN, Daneshvar Y, Patel PS, Pulvino C, Hatchitt K, Hoelle RM, Peters KR, Kuchibhotla S, Lottenberg L, et al. Impact of helmet use in traumatic brain injuries associated with recreational vehicles. Adv Prev Med, 2013;2013:450195.
  7. Forman JL, Lopez-Valdes FJ, Pollack K, Heredero-Ordoyo R, Molinero A, Mansilla A, Fildes B, Segui-Gomez M. Injuries among powered two-wheeler users in eight European countries: a descriptive analysis of hospital discharge data. Accid Anal Prev 2012 Nov;49:229-236.
  8. Majdan M, Mauritz W, Wilbacher I, Janciak I, Brazinova A, Rusnak M, Leitgeb J. Traumatic brain injuries caused by traffic accidents in five European countries: outcome and public health consequences. Eur J Public Health 2013 Aug;23(4): 682-687.
  9. McIntyre A, Mehta S, Janzen S, Aubut J, Teasell RW. A metaanalysis of functional outcome among older adults with traumatic brain injury. NeuroRehabilitation 2013;32(2):409-414.
  10. Miggins M, Lottenberg L, Liu H, Moldawer L, Efron P, Ang D. Mopeds and scooters: crash outcomes in a high traffic state. J Trauma 2011 Jul;71(1):217-222.
  11. Mueller TS, Scooter crashes at university: intervention tactics for modified behavior and helmet use. Traffic Inj Prev 2013;14(4):335-339.
  12. Siddiqui SM, Sagar S, Misra MC, Gupta A, Crandall M, Swaroop M. Patterns of injury among motorized twowheeler pillion riders in New Delhi, India. J Surg Res 2016 Sep;205(1):142-146.
  13. Sood S. Survey of factors influencing injury among riders involved in motorized two-wheeler accidents in India: a prospective study of 302 cases. J Trauma 1988 Apr;28(4):530-534.
  14. Muller A. Florida's motorcycle helmet law repeal and fatality rates. Am J Public Health 2004 Apr;94(4):556-558.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.