Analysis of Limb Injury Patterns in Victims of Two Wheeler Accidents

Abstract

Objectives: A retrospective study was carried out to analyse the two wheeler accidents that presented over a one year period to a single institution and to study the pattern of limb injuries according to zones assigned to the limb. The mode of injury in the two wheeler accidents and the differences in limb injuries between the driver and the pillion riding passenger were also studied.Methods: All the road traffic accidents that could be attributed to two wheelers were obtained with the help of trauma records and the nominal registers and ward records. Limb injuries were then assigned to various anatomical zones that were created for the purpose of the study. The upper limb and lower limb injuries were separately analysed for differences between the driver and the pillion rider.Results: There were 242 two wheeler accidents seen between 1st jan 2008 to 31st dec 2008, of these 110 had limb injuries. 96 cases were eventually included and of these 67 were drivers. The most common mode of injury was a skid and fall of the vehicle ( 42%). Pillion riders were injured more often in collisions between two and four wheelers. The commonest injury in drivers was in wrist and hand regions of the upper limb and the tibia and ankle regions of the lower limb. In the pillion rider, lower limb injuries were commonest in the tibia and ankle whereas in the upper limb shoulder and wrist injuries predominated.Conclusion: Two wheeler accidents cause significant morbidity in both the driver and pillion rider, the tibia and ankle are commonly injured in both the populations whereas minor differences in upper limb injury are seen between the two groups.Keywords: Road traffic accidents; epidemiology; pattern of injuries.DOI: 10.3126/ajms.v1i1.2794Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.1(1) 2010 p.14-15

Pattern of Limb Injuries in Road Traffic Accident: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Tertiary Health Care Centre in North East India

“…Further, among the various type of injuries sustained by two wheeler victims, laceration is the least which is seen in 2 cases, while fracture is seen in 1 case which is the least type of injury seen in four wheeler victims, whereas among pedestrian the least type of injury is laceration which is seen in 2 cases. In contrast to the study by 16 George AS et al where Pillion riders were injured more often in collisions between two and four wheelers. Regarding the cause of death, injury only to the limb with shock and hemorrhages was the cause of death in 9.5% of the cases and in the remaining 49.5% of the cases the cause death was due to shock and hemorrhage and 41% due to injury to vital organs.…”

Injury patterns in patients with QINGQI motorcycle rickshaw related road traffic accidents presenting at accident and emergency department of Mayo Hospital, Lahore.

“…Similar patterns of injuries are reported in previous studies. [11][12][13][14] A study in Karachi also reported lower limb fractures as the most common injuries (in almost 45% of cases) followed by head injuries (28%). Almost 40% of the patients were considered significantly injured at primary survey and required either admission or referral to a better equipped facility.…”

An analysis of deaths in two wheeler accidents among autopsied cases: Five year retrospective study

“…Only 5 persons (2.1%) died of collision deaths of two wheelers with 3 wheelers. Studies by Jakhar et al from Haryana 18 (71.7%), Zargar et al from Iran 22 (64.6%), Arjun P et al 6 (36%) and George et al 23 claim that majority of victims were in collisions between four wheelers with two wheelers. Marak et al 24 in his study has noted motorcyclists as the common vehicles involved and pedestrians being the highest number of casualties.…”