Abstract
Background
The importance of bicycle helmets in reducing injuries is unclear. Our center receives
a disproportionate number of bicycle crash victims. We sought to evaluate the types
of injuries observed and the role of helmets in reducing head injuries.
Materials and methods
We evaluated demographic data and compared injuries between bicycle riders that crashed
with and without helmets over a 9-year period. Categorical variables were compared
using linear regression methods and nominal variables using ANOVA. Differences were
considered significant for P ≤ 0.05.
Results
There were 906 patients evaluated, 701 with helmets (77%) and 205 (23%) without helmets.
The mean Injury Severity Score was 9.3 ± 6.4. The most common injuries were concussion
(n = 385), rib fractures (n = 154), clavicle fractures (n = 139), facial fractures (n = 102), and cervical spine fractures (n = 89). There was no significant difference in the number of patients with a concussion
in riders with or without helmets, [299/701, 42.6% versus 86/205, 42.0%, respectively, (P = NS)]. In helmet versus no helmet riders, there were significantly fewer patients with facial fractures,
[67/701, 9.5%, versus 35/205, 17.0%, respectively, (P = 0.003)], skull fractures [8/701, 1.1% versus 9/205, 4.4%, respectively, (P = 0.003)], and serious head injuries [6/701, 0.85% versus 8/205, 3.9%, respectively, (P = 0.002)].
Conclusions
Helmeted patients involved in bicycle crashes are less likely to sustain a serious
head injury, a skull fracture, or facial fractures compared to riders without helmets.
The most common injury in patients with a bicycle crash is a concussion. Helmets did
not prevent concussion after bicycle rider’s crash in our patient population.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Surgical ResearchAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Data, trauma quality programs. American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL2019
- Characteristics of bicycle crashes among children and the effect of bicycle helmets.Traffic Inj Prev. 2019; : 1-6
- Association between conventional bicycle helmet use and facial fractures.JAMA Otolaryn Head Neck Surg. 2019; 154: 140-145
- Helmets for preventing head and facial injuries in bicyclists.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000; : CD001855
- Impact of bicycle helmet safety legislation on children admitted to a regional pediatric trauma center.J Pediatr Surg. 1998; 33: 317-321
- Bicycle helmets-To wear or not to wear? A meta-analyses of the effects of bicycle helmets on injuries.Accid Anal Prev. 2018; 117: 85-97
- Pediatric bicycle helmet legislation and crash-related traumatic brain injury in Illinois, 1999-2009.J Surg Res. 2018; 222: 231-237
- Bicycle helmets are highly protective against traumatice brain injury within a dense urban setting.Injury. 2015; 46: 2483-2490
- Helmet use in bicycle trauma patients: a population-based study.Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2015; 41: 517-521
- Characteristics of bicycle crashes among children and the effect of bicycle helmets.Traffic Inj Prev. 2019; : 1-6
- Pediatric bicycle injury prevention and the effect of helmet usage: the West Virginia experience.W V Med J. 2012; 108: 78-81
- The Ohio bicycle injury study.Clin Pediatr (Phila). 1995; 34: 256-260
- Impaired quality of life after bicycle trauma.Injury. 2016; 47: 1078-1082
Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 12, 2020
Accepted:
August 2,
2020
Received in revised form:
July 17,
2020
Received:
February 28,
2020
Footnotes
Presented at the 15th Annual meeting of the Academic Surgical Congress, Orlando FL. February 2020.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
