Comparative analysis of injuries observed in motorcycle riders involved in traffic accidents and victims of other blunt trauma mechanisms

Objective: To conduct a comparative analysis of the lesions found among motorcycle riders involved in traffic accidents and victims of other mechanisms of blunt trauma. Methods: Analysis of data prospectively collected on protocols for trauma patients older than 13 years, admitted from 06/10/2008 to 09/01/2009, victims of blunt trauma. Data collected included trauma mechanism, vital signs at admission, laboratory tests, injuries, and treatment. Stratification of trauma and lesion severity was performed by calculating the trauma index: Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS), Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), Injury Severity Score (ISS) and TRISS. We compared the variables between motorcycle riders (group A) and the others (group B). Severe injuries were considered when AIS > 3. For statistical analysis, we used Student's t, Mann Whitney, chi-square and Fisher's test, with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: The study included 3,783 blunt trauma victims, aged 14 to 99 years, of which 76.0% were males. The most frequent trauma mechanisms were accidents involving motorcycle riders (24.4%) and pedestrians (22.6%). When comparing the variables between groups A and B, we observed that motorcycle riders were significantly (p < 0.05) younger (28.9 +/- 8.5 years vs. 42.4 +/- 8.5 years) and had lower mean AIS in the head segment (0.3 +/- 0.9 vs. 0.8 +/- 1.1), as well as higher mean GCS at admission (14.5 +/- 1.9 vs. 14.2 +/- 2.2), AIS in the extremities (1.5 +/- 1.2 vs. 0.9 +/- 1.2), RTS (7.8 +/- 0.5 vs. 7.7 +/- 0.6) and TRISS (0.98 +/- 0.1 vs. 0.97 +/- 0.1). Men were significantly more frequent in group A (87.9% vs. 72.6%). When comparing injuries between groups, we observed that the motorcycle riders had significantly (p < 0.05) lower frequency of extradural hematomas (0.696 vs. 2.1%), subdural hematomas (0.9% vs. 2.1%), subarachnoid hemorrhage (0.9% vs. 2.2%), brain injury (1.2 vs. 3.6%), and severe head injuries (4.8% vs. 9.4%), as well as higher frequency of diffuse axonal injury (1.6% vs. 0.7%), upper- (7.9% vs. 4.4%) and lower-limb fractures (7.7% vs. 5, 2%), and severe extremity lesions (20.6% vs. 12.6%). Conclusion: Compared to victims of other trauma mechanisms, motorcycle riders had a lower frequency and severity of head injuries, as well as increased frequency and severity of lesions in the extremities.