E-scooter bone injuries on the rise
Over the past decade, electric scooters (e-scooters) have been increasing in popularity across the country. But with their popularity, visits to the hospital have also been on the rise. According to a new abstract, e-scooter injuries are becoming much more common and increasingly severe.
Authors of the abstract, “National Trends in Pediatric e-Scooter Injury,” found hundreds of e-scooter injuries between 2011-2020.
Over the years, e-scooter injuries are becoming much more common and increasingly severe.
The findings show that the rate of hospital admittance for patients increased from fewer than 1 out of every 20 e-scooter injuries in 2011 to 1 out of every 8 requiring admittance into a hospital for care in 2020.
“The number of annual e-scooter injuries has increased from 2011 to 2020, likely due in some part to the rise in popularity of rideshare e-scooter apps,” said lead author Harrison Hayward, M.D., Emergency Medicine fellow at Children’s National Hospital. “Our study has characterized the spectrum of injuries that occur in children, which helps emergency room doctors prepare for taking care of them and helps parents and families to practice better safety.”
The most common injuries were arm fractures (27%), followed by minor abrasions (22%) and lacerations needing stitches (17%). The average age was 11.1 years and 59% of patients were male.
With the alarming rise in injuries, Dr. Hayward and other experts are saying the use of helmets are a must since over 10% of the reported cases were head injuries.
“Research has broadly demonstrated that helmets save lives for bicycle riders, and we should think similarly about e-scooters,” he said.
You can read more about the findings on the American Academy of Pediatrics website.
