PURPOSE: Electric scooters (e-scooters) have become an increasingly popular mode of public transportation in recent years. As the incidence of related injuries rises, it is important to understand specific fracture patterns unique to e-scooters and electric bikes (e-bikes) to help guide management. The purpose of this study was to review the prevalence and describe specific fracture patterns of e-scooter and e-bike related injuries at the busiest level 1 trauma center in the borough of Manhattan. METHODS: Chart review to determine mechanism of injury was performed on all patients for whom an orthopedic consult was requested from 1/1/2021 to 12/31/2021. All patients whose injuries were sustained due to an e-scooter or e-bike were further reviewed for demographics, injury characteristics including fracture pattern, and definitive injury management. Any patients who had an orthopedic consult placed for a reason other than an acute injury were excluded. Descriptive statistics are reported as frequency (percentage) for categorical variables and means for continuous variables. RESULTS: Of the 1815 orthopedic consults requested, 1357 (74.8%) were for acute injury management. Of those with acute injuries, 119 (8.8%) sustained 136 e-scooter or e-bike related injuries. There were 92 (77.3%) males at an average age of (33.8 ± 15.7) years. Approximately one-fifth of all patients presented in June 2021 (26, 21.8%). There was a 9.2% rate of open fractures. The 136 injuries were evenly split between the upper and lower extremities, with 57 (47.9%) upper extremity, 57 (47.9%) lower extremity injuries, and 5 (4.2%) concomitant upper and lower extremity injuries. The most common fracture patterns were ankle fractures (16, 11.7%), followed by tibial shaft (14, 10.2%), tibial plateau (13, 9.5%), and radial head fractures (11, 8.0%). There was a 33.3% incidence of associated posterior malleolar fractures in the spiral tibial shaft fractures, 31.0% of posterior malleolar involvement and 18.8% of isolated vertical medial malleolar fractures in the ankle fractures, and 61.5% of posterior comminution in the tibial plateau fractures. CONCLUSION E-scooter and e-bike related injuries have a high incidence of tibial shaft fractures, ankle fractures, tibial plateau fractures, and radial head fractures. There should be a high index of suspicion for posterior and medial involvement in lower extremity fractures sustained due to e-scooter or e-bikes. Identifying specific fracture patterns seen in e-scooter and e-bike related mechanisms will help guide management of these injuries.
Male ; Humans ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Ankle Fractures ; Trauma Centers ; Incidence ; Radial Head and Neck Fractures ; Tibial Plateau Fractures ; Retrospective Studies ; Tibial Fractures/complications* ; Radius Fractures

OBJECTIVE: To compare the biomechanical stability of three cross-bridge headless compression screws and locking plates in the fixation of Mason type Ⅲ radial head fractures by finite element method. METHODS: Using reverse modeling technology, the radial CT data and internal fixation data of a healthy 25-year-old male were imported into the relevant software. Three-dimensional finite element model of 3 cross-bridge headless compression screws and locking plates for MasonⅢ radial head fractures were established, and the radial head was loaded with 100 N axial loading. The maximum displacement, maximum Von Mises stress and stress distribution of the two groups were compared. RESULTS: The maximum displacements of the three cross-bridge screws group and locking plate group were 0.069 mm and 0.087 mm respectively, and the Von Mises stress peaks were 18.59 MPa and 31.85 MPa respectively. The stress distribution of the three screws group was more uniform. CONCLUSION Both internal fixation methods can provide good fixation effect. CoMPared with the locking plate fixation method, the 3 cross-bridge headless compression screws fixation is more stable and the stress distribution is more uniform.
Male ; Humans ; Adult ; Finite Element Analysis ; Radial Head and Neck Fractures ; Bone Screws ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Radius Fractures/surgery* ; Fracture Fixation, Internal/methods* ; Bone Plates ; Fractures, Comminuted