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. 2022;13(1):5-10.
doi: 10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2022.002.

Emergency department electric scooter injuries after the introduction of shared e-scooter services: A retrospective review of 3,331 cases

Ittai Shichman  1 , Or Shaked  1 , Shai Factor  1 , Ahuva Weiss-Meilik  2 , Amal Khoury  1
Affiliations

Emergency department electric scooter injuries after the introduction of shared e-scooter services: A retrospective review of 3,331 cases

Ittai Shichman et al. World J Emerg Med. 2022.

Abstract

Background: To determine the frequency, characteristics, and use of resources related to electric scooter (e-scooter) injuries in the emergency department (ED) of a major metropolitan area hospital.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of all ED presentations related to e-scooter injuries at a level I trauma center between May 2017 and February 2020. We identified ED presentation data, injury-related data, patients' clinical course after evaluation, injury diagnosis, surgical procedures, and ED readmissions.

Results: A total of 3,331 patients with e-scooter injuries presented to the ED over a 34-month period. There was a 6-fold increase in e-scooter-related injuries presenting to the ED, from an average of 26.9 injuries per month before the introduction of shared e-scooter services in August 2018 to an average of 152.6 injuries per month after its introduction. The average injury rate during weekdays was 3.27 per day, with the majority of injuries occurring in the afternoon. The most common mechanism of injury was rider fall (79.1%). There were a total of 2,637 orthopedic injuries, of which 599 (22.7%) were fractures. A total of 296 (8.9%) patients were hospitalized following the initial ED admission, and 462 surgeries were performed within 7 days of ED arrival.

Conclusions: The introduction of the shared e-scooter services is associated with a dramatic increase in e-scooter injuries presenting to the ED. E-scooter use carries considerably underestimated injury risks of high-energy trauma and misunderstood mechanisms of injuries. These injuries challenge the healthcare system, with a major impact on both EDs and surgical departments.

Keywords: E-scooter; Emergency department; Scooter.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
E-scooter-related injuries by month. The line represents the introduction of shared e-scooter services.
Figure 2
Figure 2
E-scooter-related injuries by day of week and time of day. The time of day is divided into daytime (06:00–18:00) and nighttime (18:00–06:00) and represented by colors.
Figure 3
Figure 3
E-scooter-related injuries by age group and mechanism of injury. The mechanisms of injury are indicated by colors.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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