Analysis of two-wheeled vehicle accidents admitted to emergency departme

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the types of injuries occurring in traffic accidents and the causes of death in fatal cases, to provide epidemiological data, to determine the patterns of two-wheeled vehicle-related injuries in drivers, to emphasise the importance of triage in patients and the seriousness of the risks associated with these accidents. Materials and Methods: In this study, two-wheeled vehicle accidents admitted to the emergency department of Istanbul University- Cerrahpaşa Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Hospital between 1 April 2021 and 30 April 2024 were retrospectively investigated. Demographic characteristics, vital signs, type of vehicle (motorbike, bicycle, scooter), type of injury, injury sites and injury scores of the patients were calculated and recorded. Patients aged ≤18 years were defined as paediatric and >18 years were defined as adult patients. Follow-up/admission, hospitalisation, transfusion and in-hospital mortality were analysed. Result: The mean age of 476 patients in our study was 27.16 ± 12.11 years, 80.5% (n=383) were adults and 87.4% (416) were male. The most common type of vehicle was motorcycle accidents with 386 (81.1%) cases. While extremity injuries were the most common injury site with 382 (80.9%) cases, superficial injuries were detected in the majority of cases (82.4%, n=392). While 92.9% (n=442) of the cases were followed up and treated in the emergency department, 7.1% (n=34) were hospitalised in the wards. Transfusion was performed in only 6 (1.3%) cases and mortality was detected in only 1 (0.2%) case. Conclusion: Two-wheeled vehicle accidents are frequently seen in young adult males and in summer season. In these cases, no significant difference was found between vehicle types in terms of trauma severity scores, vital signs and length of hospitalisation. This study reveals that it is vital to develop multidimensional approaches for the prevention of two-wheeled vehicle accidents. Keywords: Emergency, accident, two-wheeled, motorbike, bicycle, scooter, trauma score, injury