Korean J Sports Med.  2018 Mar;36(1):1-6. 10.5763/kjsm.2018.36.1.1.

Study on the Orthopedic Characteristics of Bicycle Injury Patients

• Heo YM
• Yi JW
• Oh BH
• Jun JB
• Cho HJ
• Kim TG

• KMID: 2465223
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5763/kjsm.2018.36.1.1

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study aimed to investigate bicycle injury patients who suffered orthopedic injuries.
METHODS
From January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2014, 1,664 people visited the emergency room due to a bicycle accident. Among them, 385 patients were found to have orthopedic injuries through physical examination and imaging evaluation. Intending to evaluate whether the number of bicycle injury patients is increasing or decreasing yearly, we investigated the rate of orthopedic injuries among bicycle injury patients, the damaged areas and the extent of damage, and also investigated whether changes in frequency were correlated with sex, age, or season.
RESULTS
From January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2014, a total of 237,533 people came to the emergency room. Among them, the number of bicycle injuries was 1,664 (0.7%), and 23% of the bicycle injuries (385 people) were orthopedic injuries. Among these, 77.4% were men, 44.5% were less than 20 years old, and 20% were more than 61 years old. Damage to the forearm (n=82, 21.3%) and the shoulder (n=71, 18.4%) were the most common injuries, and simple fractures affected 274 patients (71.1%), overwhelmingly more common than other patterns of damage. In combination, simple fracture and dislocations occurred in 279 cases (72.5%).
CONCLUSION
Most bicycle injuries occur in young and elderly people. Fractures of the forearm and shoulder were the most common orthopedic injuries. We expect that this study will be helpful in providing information about the orthopedic characteristics of bike injuries.

Keyword

Bicycle; Emergency department; Incidence; Orthopedics

MeSH Terms

Aged
Dislocations
Emergency Service, Hospital
Forearm
Humans
Incidence
Male
Orthopedics*
Physical Examination
Seasons
Shoulder

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Annual incidences of bicycle injuries between 2010 and 2014. Both total bicycle injury incidence and orthopedic patients showed a similar increasing trend in 2012 and 2014.

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  Fig. 2 The flow of bicycle injuries during the 5 years.

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  Fig. 3 The total incidence of body injuries during the 5 years. (A, B) Forearm injuries showed the greatest incidence in the 0–10 and 11–20 year groups. However, the shoulder and spine showed a relatively higher incidence in the 51–60 and ≥61 year groups than the other groups. Lower leg injuries and hip injuries showed the highest incidence in the 0–10 yr and ≥61 year groups, respectively.

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  Fig. 4 Seasonal cases of bicycle injuries.

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