Article
E-Bike – an increasing cause of severe head injuries?
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Authors
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Petra Schödel
- Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Regensburg, Deutschland
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Elisabeth Bründl
- Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Regensburg, Deutschland
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Judith Scheitzach
- Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Regensburg, Deutschland
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Sylvia Bele
- Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Regensburg, Deutschland
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Alexander Brawanski
- Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Regensburg, Deutschland
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Karl-Michael Schebesch
- Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Regensburg, Deutschland
| Published: | June 18, 2018 |
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Outline
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Objective: The numbers of e-bikes and consecutive accidents is growing fast over the last years. This study was conducted to evaluate the severity level of injured e-bikers compared to ordinary cyclists with a special focus on brain trauma.
Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of all cyclists and e-bikers, which had been treated in our emergency department between 08/2015 and 07/2017. We analyzed sex, age, helmet wearing, initial neurological performance according to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), clinical and radiographic findings, days in hospital and days on intensive care unit (ICU), and outcome according to the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS).
Results: 764 patients were screened, whereof 12 e-bikers and 752 ordinary cyclists were identified. Male cyclists were predominantly injured in both groups (e-bikers 83.3% and cyclists 68.1%, resp.). E-bikers were significantly older (59.5 vs. 36.5 years), were treated more often on ICU (33.3% vs. 7.5%), and had longer stays on ICU (8.3 d vs. 5.6 d) as well as in hospital (7.2 d vs. 1.8 resp.). 25% of e-bikers and 18.2% of cyclists wore a helmet. Brain contusion, acute subdural hematoma, traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage, and fractures were more often detected in e-bikers (25.0% vs. 2.0%, 33.3% vs. 1.6%, 25.0% vs. 2.8%, 16.7% vs. 2.5%, resp.). Clouding of consciousness (GCS at admission <10) was found in 2.5% of cyclists (n=19) and in 0% of e-bikers, but poor outcome was more frequent in e-bikers (GOS 1-3: 2 pts. (16.7%) vs. 13 pts. (1.7%)), and 8.3% of e-bikers died (vs. 0.5% of cyclists). Full-body-ct-scans (33.3% vs. 10.9%) and head-ct-scans were performed significantly more often in e-bikers (25.0% vs. 8.7%), whereas simple X-rays (59.7% vs. 41.7%) or no imaging at all (17.4% vs. 0%) were more frequent in cyclists.
Conclusion: E-bikers predominated in serious injuries. As the number of e-bikers is growing rapidly, the numbers of consecutive accidents will increase, presumably. This may result in more severe (neuro-) trauma and complex emergency treatment.
