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Riding a bicycle: Do we need more than a helmet?
Author(s) -
AbuKishk Ibrahim,
Vaiman Michael,
RosenfeldYehoshua Noa,
Kozer Eran,
Lotan Gad,
Eshel Gideon
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
pediatrics international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.49
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1442-200X
pISSN - 1328-8067
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-200x.2010.03159.x
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , intensive care unit , abdominal trauma , trunk , injury prevention , poison control , injury severity score , pediatric intensive care unit , retrospective cohort study , emergency medicine , occupational safety and health , surgery , pediatrics , intensive care medicine , blunt , biology , ecology , physics , pathology , optics
Background: To assess pediatric bicycle‐related traumatization in view of types of injuries, incidence and modes of prevention. Methods: Retrospective study of pediatric cases admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit of a university‐affiliated level II trauma hospital in Israel over 12 consecutive years. Results: Forty‐six patients (three girls, 43 boys) with bicycle‐related injuries formed 1% of the total pediatric intensive care unit admissions during the study period. The number of patients with bicycle‐related injuries increased significantly during recent years (1996–2001 vs 2002–07: P = 0.003). Most of the cases presented abdominal injuries (54.4%) followed by head (32.6%) and chest (13%) injuries. The median age of patients with abdominal trauma was significantly lower in comparison to patients with other types of injuries ( P = 0.002). Abdominal cases required longer hospitalization compared with other patients ( P = 0.003). Falling from a bicycle was the main mechanism of injury in abdominal cases (88%) ( P = 0.003). Motor vehicle impacts were the main mechanism of injury in patients with head (60%) and chest (66.6%) trauma. Conclusion: The incidence of severe bicycle‐related injuries requiring intensive care hospitalization is increasing and abdominal trauma forms the main portion of those injuries. We suggest introducing a trunk‐protective measure for young bicyclists. Exact information on the mechanism of the injury is important for evaluating the injured patient more accurately.