Motorcycle injuries: an MTOS perspective

From 1982 through 1988, data on 127,536 patients were submitted to the American College of Surgeons Major Trauma Outcome Study (MTOS) by 164 institutions, most North American Level I or II trauma centers. Motorcycle injuries (N = 8158) had high mortality rate (9.0%) and average lengths of stay in hospital (13.1 days) and in ICU (5.3 days) when compared with other causes of injury. Helmet use was recorded for less than 15% of patients. Those known to be helmeted (N = 810) had lower injury severities and less frequent serious injuries to the head, brain or spinal cord than known non-helmeted patients (N #32; 256). Significantly more non-helmeted patients (15.3%) than helmeted patients (8.5%) were discharged to rehab facilities. Positive blood alcohol levels were more frequent in non-helmeted patients. Among non- survivors, helmeted patients had higher ISS values (43.8 versus 34.2), higher levels of injury to non-CNS body regions and lower levels of serious injury to the head, brain and spinal cord. Comparisons of patients injured in states with complete helmet use legislation (HUL) with those injured in states without such legislation (NHUL) gave similar results. Mortality of patients injured in HUL states (8.5%) was significantly less than in NHUL states (16.5%).