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Stock photo of people commuting on e-bikes and scooters.Maskot/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
A fresh study released on Wednesday revealed that e-bikes and e-scooters contributed to a rising amount of trauma-related injuries at a New York City medical center.
Approximately 7% of all trauma-related visits between 2018 and 2023 at Bellevue Hospital Center stemmed from micromobility-related injuries. Micromobility encompasses the utilization of compact, lightweight, and low-velocity transportation methods, such as conventional bicycles, e-bikes, and e-scooters.
The research indicated an escalating proportion of patients who experienced these injuries suffered incidents connected to e-bikes or e-scooters.
Hospital statistics demonstrated that, by 2023, greater than half of all trauma instances linked to bikes or scooters implicated an e-bike or e-scooter, an augmentation from a mere 8% in 2018, according to the research, featured in the journal Neurosurgery.
The most prevalent incident type entailed a crash involving a motorized vehicle, subsequent to falls from the bike or scooter.
Stock photo of people commuting on e-bikes and scooters.Maskot/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
Bellevue functions as a Level 1 Trauma hub in a major urban locale, structured to manage the most serious types of injuries. Across the duration of the study, roughly 30% of patients experienced a traumatic brain injury, 26% sustained harm to the skull or face, and 50% necessitated surgical intervention.
“Our investigation reveals that micromobility-related injuries are causing significant brain and spinal traumas that require neurosurgical attention on a scale previously unseen,” stated Dr. Hannah Weiss, the corresponding study author and a resident in the Department of Neurosurgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, in a media release. “Within a bustling city landscape, we are increasingly observing these injuries firsthand.”
The majority of patients evaluated for these injuries, nearly 69%, required admittance to the hospital, and approximately one-third needed intensive care.
Most patients remained hospitalized for a minimum of three days. Pedestrians who were struck exhibited elevated rates of traumatic brain injuries and demonstrated a greater likelihood of requiring intensive care admission.
“The data suggest practical solutions, encompassing helmet utilization, enhanced bike lane configurations, and enforcement, which could avert numerous of these injuries and afford greater protection to both riders and pedestrians, who in our study frequently endured even more critical brain injuries than the riders themselves,” Weiss remarked.
Approximately 20% of patients were intoxicated with alcohol, a mere 31% were wearing a helmet, and injuries were more prone to occur during the evening hours, as per the study.
“Our conclusions underscore that urban infrastructure must persist in its advancement to accommodate the swift proliferation of electric bikes and scooters,” commented Dr. Paul P. Huang, an associate professor within the neurosurgery department at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and chief of neurosurgery at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, in a press communication.
“Future research endeavors should monitor these injuries across diverse cities and evaluate whether safeguarded bike lanes, helmet initiatives, and speed regulation effectively diminish the quantity of brain and spine surgeries we conduct,” Huang appended.
Jade A. Cobern, MD, MPH, is a practicing physician, certified by the board in pediatrics and general preventive medicine, and a fellow of the ABC News Medical Unit.
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Sourse: abcnews.go.com