title: Craniofacial injuries due to golf cart trauma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize craniofacial injuries due to golf cart trauma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series with chart review.
  
  
  METHODS
  Level 1 trauma center.
  
  
  METHODS
  A tertiary academic medical center's trauma database was queried for golf cart-related trauma from 2000 to 2009 and returned 68 patients. Data were obtained from the trauma database and by individually reviewing patient charts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 68 patients identified, 55% were male, with a median age of 13.4 years. Sixty-nine percent had head injuries, with 32% sustaining skull or facial fracture and 20.6% intracranial hemorrhage. The highest Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) by region was the head and neck. The average Glasgow Coma Scale score was 14.2, Injury Severity Score (ISS) 9.0, hospital stay 4.5 days, and intensive care unit (ICU) stay 2.8 days; 36.8% were admitted to the ICU. Ejection and rollover were the most common mechanisms of injury, with ejection having a significantly higher head and neck AIS compared with rollover and hitting a stationary object (P = .0055). Alcohol was detected in 59.2% of patients older than 16 years; the average blood alcohol concentration was 182.6 mg/dL. Children were involved 60.3% of the time, with an average age of 9.2 years, and children were passengers in the golf cart 69.2% of the time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Golf cart trauma can cause significant craniofacial injuries, particularly in the pediatric population and in adults who consume alcohol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia 30912, USA.
authors.forename: Brandon L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Waller
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: McKinnon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006055:Golf / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult