Injuries Associated with Hoverboard Use: A Case Series of Emergency Department Patients
Abstract
Introduction: Since hoverboards became available in 2015, 2.5 million have been sold in theUS. An increasing number of injuries related to their use have been reported, with limited data onassociated injury patterns. We describe a case series of emergency department (ED) visits forhoverboard-related injuries.
Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review on patients presenting to 10 EDs insoutheastern Virginia from December 24, 2015, through June 30, 2016. We used a free-textsearch feature of the electronic medical record to identify patients documented to have the word“hoverboard” in the record. We reported descriptive statistics for patient demographics, types ofinjuries, body injury location, documented helmet use, injury severity score (ISS), length of stay inthe ED, and ED charges.
Results: We identified 83 patients in our study. The average age was 26 years old ( 18 months to 78years). Of these patients, 53% were adults; the majority were female (61.4%) and African American(56.6%). The primary cause of injury was falls (91%), with an average ISS of 5.4 (0-10). The majorityof injuries were contusions (37.3%) and fractures (36.1%). Pediatric patients tended to have morefractures than adults (46.2% vs 27.3%). Though 20% of patients had head injuries, only one patientreported using a helmet. The mean and median ED charges were $2,292.00 (SD $1,363.64) and$1,808.00, respectively. Head injuries resulted in a significantly higher cost when compared to otherinjuries; median cost was $2,846.00.
Conclusion: While the overall ISS was low, more pediatric patients suffered fractures comparedto adults. Documented helmet use was low, yet 20% of our population had head injuries.Further investigation into proper protective gear and training is warranted.