This scientific poster presents a study in which detailed mechanisms of injury for five children with significant handlebar-related injuries were determined by onsite crash investigations. These investigations were conducted as part of a larger United States surveillance study, the Injury Circumstance Evaluation (ICE) study. The patients in this case series ranged in age from six years to fourteen years. Four were boys and one was a girl.The injuries sustained included: one renal contusion (Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS) 3), one pneumothorax (MAIS 5), one fractured pancreas (MAIS 3), and two liver lacerations (MAIS 3 and 4). None of the bicycle incidents involved moving motor vehicles. Rather, the incidents involved bicycle mechanical failure, rider loss of balance or riding over uneven road surfaces all of which resulted in rider loss of bicycle control and subsequent truncal impact with the handlebar. Four of the bicycles involved were stunt bicycles, and the other was self-assembled with parts from a variety of bicycles. The minor incidents that resulted in these potentially life-threatening injuries indicate the role of the bicycle itself in injury causation. Effective countermeasures for handlebar-related injuries can be developed if the mechanism underlying these handlebar-impact related cases were better understood. (A)
Abstract