Radiological assessment of traumatic bone injuries secondary to motorcycle accidents in Ghana: a multi-center cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION

Motorcycle accidents are a leading cause of traumatic injuries, including bone fractures, dislocations, and soft tissue damage. Despite the growing concern about motorcycle-related injuries, there is a paucity of research. This study assessed traumatic bone injuries secondary to motorcycle accidents in Ghana.

METHODS

This multi-center quantitative study employed a cross-sectional design to examine plain X-ray reports of 1736 patients with traumatic bone injuries due to motorcycle accidents from January 2020 to December 2023. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Statistical significance was set at p-value ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS

The prevalence rate of traumatic bone injuries due to motorcycle accidents was 82.9%, and the mortality rate was 10.3%. The tibia/fibula (43.3%), femur (20.6%), and the skull (9.3%) were the most fractured bones, whilst dislocations frequently occurred at the ankle, shoulder, and elbow joints. Fractures of the skull (67.3%, p=0.041) and spine (69.0%, p=0.002) were more common among the passengers. Passengers disproportionately sustained more fractures (50.9%) and dislocations (57.8%) than motorcycle riders. The mortality rates among patients with spine/neck and skull injuries were 85.3% and 65.0%, respectively (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

The observed increasing annual trend in traumatic bone injury cases underscores a growing burden on emergency departments and highlights the urgent need for strengthened emergency medicine systems, including rapid triage, timely imaging, and coordinated trauma care. This trend also reinforces the importance of targeted motorcycle injury prevention strategies and policy interventions, alongside improved pre-hospital and emergency response services, to reduce both the incidence and severity of motorcycle-related injuries in Ghana.