Pattern of Orthopaedic Injuries in Motorcycle Accidents

Abstract

Background: With increasing number of motor vehicles and population, trauma patients are increasing day by day. Motorcycle accidents are one of the major causes of disabilities and deaths in young males. Objectives: To determine the pattern of orthopaedic injuries and outcome of its treatment in patients presented to Allied Hospital Faisalabad after motorcycle accidents and to provide the baseline data to policy makers and other stakeholders who want to undertake necessary measures to improve road safety in the country. Study design: Descriptive cross sectional. Setting: Accident and Emergency (A&E) and orthopaedic department of Allied Hospital Faisalabad. Duration of study: January 2012 to December 2012.Method: All patients were admitted through Accident and Emergency department. The data was collected in retrospective way and was analyzed using SPSS version 17.  Results: Total 1003 patients were included in this study. 859 were male (85.6 %) & 144 were female (14.4 %). The patient ages rangedfrom 3 to 90 years with peak frequency of 21-30 years 318 (31.7 %).  Businessmen290 (28.9%), employee/public workers 224 (22.3%) and students 216 (21.5%) were the majority of victims. Collision of motorcycle with vehicles was the most common mechanism of injury 31.4% and Motorcycle riders 613 (61.1%) were the usual victims.  Frequency of non-helmet use was 93.4% and of head injuries along with orthopaedic injuries were 33.1%. Most common orthopaedic injury pattern in motorcycle accidents was fracture of tibia and fibula 43.4%.Mean duration of hospitalization was 9.1days. Conclusion: Road traffic accidents constitute one of most important public health problem in our society. Disabilities and deaths in motorcycle crash are increasing day by day. Preventive programs must be launched by policy makers of concerned departments and stakeholder at national level as solely a medical approach is insufficient to save precious lives of many people