Orthopaedic injuries due to electric scooter trauma presenting to a level 1 trauma centre before and after introduction of a scooter-sharing scheme.

BACKGROUND

Epidemiological data from various jurisdictions has shown that electric scooters are associated with significant trauma. The Victorian state government introduced a trial scooter sharing scheme on February 1, 2022 in inner city Melbourne. This is a descriptive study from the largest trauma centre in Victoria, geographically at the heart of the government sharing scheme, investigating the "scope of the problem" before and after introduction of the ride sharing scheme.

METHODS

Retrospective case series. Insitutional orthopaedic department database was searched from 1 Jan 2021 to 30 June 2022 to identify all admissions, requiring orthopaedic management, associated with e-scooter trauma. Data collected included, alcohol/drug involvement, hospital LOS, injury severity score, ICU admission, injuries sustained, surgical procedures, discharge destination, and death.

RESULTS

In the 12 months prior to, and five months since introduction of the ride share scheme, 43 patients sustaining e-scooter related injuries were identified. Eighteen patients (42%) presented in the five months since ride sharing was introduced and 25 patients in the preceding 12 months. 58% of patients were found to be intoxicated. Fourteen percent required an ICU admission. Forty-four percent of patients were polytrauma admissions. The median length of stay was two days, longest individual hospital stay was 69 days. There were 49 surgical procedures in 35 patients including neurosurgical, plastics and maxillofacial operations. The mean Injury Severity Score was 17.28.

CONCLUSION

Electric scooters are associated with a significant trauma burden. This data may be combined with other clinical services and could be used to inform policy makers.