Prospective Analysis of E-Scooter Accidents in Diyarbakýr city, located in southeastern Türkiye

INTRODUCTION: Although the use of e-scooters is new, e-scooter traumas have also increased as they began to be used. Our aim in this study is to draw attention to the increasing number of e-scooter accidents and to contribute to the measures that can be taken in this regard.
METHODS: We planned the study when we started to receive scooter injuries that we had never encountered in the emergency department of our hospital. As a result of our research, we learned that the use of scooters in our province started in the first quarter of 2022. After creating the study plan and obtaining the approval of the ethics committee, we started collecting cases. From the scooter accidents admitted to the emergency department of our hospital, we included all patients with complete information, including those who agreed to participate in the study and who gave parental consent from accident victims under the age of eighteen. Patients who provided false and incomplete information and refused to participate in the study were not included.
RESULTS: While the total number of patients admitted was n=247, n=205 patients were included in our study. Of the patients admitted to the emergency department, 39% (n=80) were female and 61% (n=125) were male. When the trauma sites of the patients were analyzed, it was found that 78.05% (n=160) had extremity trauma, 19.51% (n=40) had head-neck trauma, and 2.44% (n=5) had vertebral trauma.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We are of the opinion that serious injuries can be prevented and e-scooters can be made a safer means of transportation by making the necessary legal arrangements, eliminating the infrastructure problem of the cities, building appropriate roads and expanding the use of personal protective equipment.