title: Cycling Injuries in Southwest Colorado: A Comparison of Road vs Trail Riding Injury Patterns.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the epidemiology of injuries sustained in cyclists and compare the injury patterns in road vs trail biking accidents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective chart review was performed of injured road and trail cyclists presenting to a rural mountain resort-based medical center during a 3-year study period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 304 patients, 70% were male, with 67% sustaining trail injuries and 33% sustaining road cycling injuries. There was a bimodal age distribution. Prehospital care was activated in 16% of patients. The most common injuries were lacerations and abrasions (64%), upper extremity fractures (26%), head injuries (9%), and thoracic trauma (6%). Head injury was more common in road- vs trail-related trauma (16% vs 6%; P = .005), whereas thoracic injury was more common in trail riders (7% vs 2%; P = .053). Head injury and lower extremit y fracture were the most common reasons for patient transfer. Patients with head injuries who did not use a helmet were more likely to require transfer to a neurosurgical unit (38% vs 17%; P = .296); however, this difference did not meet statistical significance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lacerations and abrasions are the most common injuries sustained in cycling. Quantifying the role of protective extremity gear in reducing these injury patterns may be of interest for future studies. Protective helmet use may be important in reducing morbidity from cycling-related head trauma; however, more data are needed. Prehospital care providers responding to the injured trail cyclist should be equipped to manage laceration, fracture, head injury, and thoracic trauma in the field.
authors.affiliation: Telluride Medical Center, Telluride, CO. Electronic address: simonkotlyar@mac.com.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kotlyar
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001642:Bicycling / Q000293:injuries*; D002648:Child; D003120:Colorado / Q000453:epidemiology; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000453:epidemiology; D006260:Head Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D022125:Lacerations / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cycling; epidemiology; injury; mountain biking